This Might Be The End
by nikita34
Summary: House and Cameron are getting a divorce, but House isn't that willing to go through with it. Rated M for later on
1. Chapter 1

Cameron was sitting in her office of the immunology department, filling out paperwork on her last patient that recovered successfully. It was the best feeling she had in a while considering her current situation but the incessant phone calls she was getting were interrupting the good mood. For a brief moment, Cameron was able to relax and feel at ease before finally answering her cell phone. 

Wilson and House were eating lunch in the cafeteria gossiping about the two nurses who were arguing over the surgeon, Dr. Bower. Apparently he was having an affair with both at the same time while his wife was completely oblivious to her husband's infidelity. It was quite entertaining for House.

Then there was the less interesting topic which was Wilson's new girlfriend.

"So how long do you think this thing will last," House asked after taking a bite of his reuben.

"I'm not putting a time limit on this one. Linda's great, funny, smart. It could turn into something."

"Yeah, so what's the deal with her?"

"What are you talking about," asked a clearly confused Wilson.

"Come on. How many times do I have to say it before you finally admit it, you're attracted to needy people and after one date your telling me that it can turn into something," Wilson attempted to talk over him, but House continued "So what's her problem?"

"You're just being an ass because right now your life sucks." House didn't acknowledge Wilson's remark and focused on the people around him before answering,

"I'm always an ass." The rest of their lunch was eaten in silence.

An hour later, getting off the elevator, Cameron closed her eyes and massaged her right temple then went on her way to finish her clinic hours for the day. The past four weeks were difficult and tiring, to say the least. Work was tougher than usual and she found it annoying to have several of her colleagues letting her know that they were there for her. It was bull shit. They just wanted to get the juicy details and she knew it.

Signing in with Brenda, she saw Wilson walking out of an exam room. Knowing it was juvenile, she rested her hand on the side of her face to block Wilson's view. It was a pathetic attempt but she really didn't want to talk to him at the moment. After grabbing a patient's folder, she turned and found him standing next to her.

"Hey." Cameron forced a smile, "Hi Wilson."

It was awkward and by the way he tensed, she knew that he felt it too. Neither wanted to be rude and walk away but there really was nothing to say. Holding up the folder, Cameron faked another smile,

"Patient." He nodded. As he watched her head to one of the exam rooms he called out to her, "Could we talk later?"

Hesitating she answered, "Sure," and walked into the exam room.

House was playing gameboy in his office when he heard the blinds and turned to see Wilson walking in.

"I closed those for a reason."

"Yes I'm sure, but you didn't lock the door," pausing his game he stared at the ground and to Wilson.

"I did lock it."

Shrugging, "I stole a key from Cuddy's desk." House couldn't stop his grin and put the game back in his desk before adjusting his chair so he was facing Wilson.

"Let's get this over with because if you're here for the reason I think you are, you might as well leave. I don't want to talk about it right now."

"I'm having dinner with her tonight."

"Who's her," he asked curiously until his memory came back, "Ah, Linda-"

"No Cameron." House's jaw clenched at the sound of her name and Wilson noticed it instantly.

"If you don't want me to-"

"It doesn't matter."

"House."

"Are you deaf? You can do what you want. I wouldn't want to stop you from being unfaithful then where would we be?" Grabbing his cane, he stood and left, leaving Wilson standing in the middle of his office.

As House walked down the hall, he saw Cameron turn the corner. There was no closet or room close enough for him to hide in and she already saw him heading towards her. Before saying anything, he wanted to see how she'd react, which was to look down at the file she held in her hand and ignore him. Great. He was fine with that. After they passed he saw her look back at him through the reflection of the glass wall.

"House," he slowed his pace but didn't turn around. If she wanted to talk to him, she could put in the effort.

"How late do you think you'll be here tonight?"

"You don't need to know."

"Will you stop being difficult and answer the damn question."

"That time of the month again isn't it." She knew he was trying to piss her off and wasn't going to indulge him so she smiled.

"Since you don't have a patient I was going to have you sign off on a few things since you always seem to be too busy to come do it yourself."

"Riiight. I won't be around. I have a date tonight," and walked away. It was obviously a lie and she probably knew it but he had to put some space between them immediately before things got carried away, finding themselves arguing about something ridiculous.

During dinner, Wilson's pager kept going off. It was House so he ignored the them and after a few pages, House started calling every five minutes. Annoyed, he turned it off his cell and pager. If the hospital needed him, they knew what restaurant he was at.

"I talked to my lawyer today. She agreed to bring the papers to the hospital next week," Cameron said.

"Really? I'm guessing you can't wait to get this over with."

"Yeah." Their conversations were short, little spurts here and there. It was just to break the silence after it became too much. Once the talking stopped the awkward tension would build again until either said something completely pointless.

"Cameron, I think you know the real reason why I asked you to dinner." She nodded.

"Have you guys even talked about this? You know the house, money, the car-"

"The place was his to begin with. The car is mine and I don't want any money from him. I hope that he isn't the type to try and take anything from me."

"He wouldn't do that. This is going pretty smooth compared to my divorces."

"It could if he would just sign the damn papers and let me get the rest of my things. He keeps telling me that he doesn't want me anywhere near his place. I let him know that Foreman could stop by; he didn't like that. I even asked him to have you bring me my things which he obviously never did."

"Isn't that telling you something?"

"Yeah. That he's still a selfish, miserable, ass hole who's trying to make this as difficult as possible to amuse himself. I can't believe I married him."

"You loved him. He loved you."

"Sometimes I wonder."

"You shouldn't. He asked you to marry him. Five years with Stacy and they had never really talked about marriage. A year and a half with you and…If you had seen him when he picked out the ring."

"Please, Wilson. I don't want to do this right now."

"Sorry. Just not used to this happening to other people." Cameron laughed and Wilson smiled. They didn't talk about Cameron and House's divorce the rest of the night.

Wilson's plan hadn't worked. House still loved Cameron, but was stubborn enough to let her get away. He didn't understand it. Maybe it was out of embarrassment or perhaps it was because House didn't want people's pity. If he pretended to want this divorce as much as she did, then people would forget about it. Or it could be fear of rejection again. Cameron was the one to initiate the divorce so why would she agree to stay if House asked her?

Wilson thought back on that one night in House's office a few weeks back. They were arguing over House's current case.

"The patient doesn't have cervical caner!"

"House all the symptoms are there! Vaginal bleeding-"

"Yeah you're a doctor. That sounds like her period to me."

"No it's not. _Abnormal_ vaginal bleeding and I stress the abnormal part. She's always sleeping when we walk in to run a test, never hungry, constant back pain and that bleeding that you so 'brilliantly' diagnosed as her period would be her third of the month. Now, you're a doctor-"

"Yeahyeahyeahyeah."

"We should do a Colposcopy to confirm the cancer."

"You're just wasting your time!"

"It's cervical cancer House! Quit making up possibilities because you don't want to deal with what's going on in your life! You're getting divorced!"

"I KNOW!" pause, "I know." House turned away from Wilson and stared out onto his balcony, "I don't want it to end."

"What? I thought you-"

"She's the one who wants the divorce." Wilson rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to respond. He was shocked, for lack of a better term. Before he could question this, House told him to go run the test.

The next morning, House went on his balcony, climbed over to Wilson's office. Wilson jumped in his seat when the door opened.

"So how was the dinner," House asked as he took a seat in front of the desk.

"The food was good, but the sound of my pager for the first half hour was a real downer."

"What did she say about me?" House was twirling the cane through his fingers and reached for Wilson's sandwich, taking a large bite out of it.

"Who said we talked about you? Just two friends catching up over dinner."

"Oh shut up. I told you what I want and you being you probably tried to fix everything. Since you don't seem too proud of yourself I'm guessing that the divorce is still on."

"Don't get pissed off at me. If you want things to work out you're going to have to talk to her. I tried."

"How can I? She got tired of me. I knew she would… I didn't change."

"You sure about that?"

"What did she say?" Leaning back in his chair, Wilson folded his hands in his lap, "At some point, she…questioned your feelings for her. I don't know if it's because you two are in the middle of a divorce and she's stressed, but you really need to talk to her. And I don't mean push her buttons 'til you two are at each other's throats." House glared at him but he knew he was right.

"Do you think it'll work," asked House as nonchalantly as possible but Wilson detected the nervousness in his voice.

"I honestly don't know." Nodding, House walked out and sat on his balcony with his I-pod, bouncing the tennis ball against the wall, debating if he should go through with this divorce or not.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Please stick with this story! I have 16 chapters already written, and I'm just posting them one by one. The beginning is completely different compared to where the story is now with a twist somewhere in the middle. please r&r and I hope you like it :-D

House was case free the next few days and still hadn't found the opportunity to have that conversation with Cameron, but she didn't seem too keen on seeing him. Every encounter was rather cold, filled with sarcasm and aggravation. This only convinced him that it really was over. With Stacy she still talked to him, smiled, joked, and he actually succeeded in stealing her back.

Sometimes people considered him a man of luck. Solving the cases, getting out of jail time, only getting suspensions when he should have been fired, had a loyal friend, but none of that really mattered because his wife was leaving him. He couldn't get himself to sign the divorce papers. That would make it final, and he sure as hell wasn't ready for that.

He didn't want that.

It's the simplest thing, ask her to stay and whatever happens, happens, and there'd be no more guessing. But then there's that finality if she refuses.

Lying on the exam room table, he heard the door open and saw Cuddy standing there with her arms across her chest.

"How many times do we have to do this? It doesn't work if I give you more hours or if I threaten to fire you."

"That's because it's an empty threat. You'll miss me too much when I'm gone."

"Right. I love it when you stare at my breasts and comment on my ass. It secretly makes me feel real good," she quipped, "Go see the patients."

"Can't."

"There's no case so move it NOW," she turned to the door, "I'm coming back in five minutes and if you're not with a patient, I'll tell the nurses that I saw you tearing up while holding babies in the maternity ward."

"You're funny."

"Patients. See them. Now."

After his clinic hours, House saw Cameron talking to her lawyer in his office. Quickly turning, he went to Wilson who was inside with a patient.

"House, get out."

"She's in my office with her lawyer."

"Go find some other place to hide," Wilson gestured out the door.

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"You're with a patient. She won't think I'm in here," he stated plainly.

"Hang out on the roof."

"It's too cold."

"Go to the chapel."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No one will know you're there," Wilson said through his teeth, smiling apologetically at the woman sitting in front of his desk.

"My game boy's in my desk."

"Get out."

During the conversation, Wilson's patient kept looking back and forth between the doctors until finally House left with a sigh of defeat.

"I'm sorry about that," Wilson said and she nodded.

After hiding out for most of the day, it was time to go home, and House quickly grabbed his things and left the hospital, scanning the halls for Cameron, hoping that he would be able to avoid Cameron again tomorrow, but knowing that it wouldn't be likely.

The next day, House was busy with a case on a 34 year old female. He sat in the conference room looking over the symptoms: shortness of breath, low blood cell count, fever, bruising, smoker.

After the differential, they decided that it could be Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and House sent Chase to do a biopsy to check her bone marrow while Foreman went to her home to find any other toxins to confirm the diagnosis.

The test results came back which confirmed MDS, but their pagers went off and the patient was going into cardiac arrest and had internal bleeding. It was back to the white board to figure out what was wrong.

That night, House was still in his office, the only lighting coming from his desk lamp. He was listening to music while going through the patient's file, the list of symptoms running through his mind, and didn't notice when Cameron had walked in until she spoke.

"Where were you yesterday?! I had my lawyer come by so we can finish this!"

"Cuddy had me tied to a chair and had her wicked way with me," she clearly didn't appreciate his sarcasm, "Relax. I was in the clinic."

"I went to the clinic and you signed out at 4:45. Where were you for the other hour," she waved her hand as a point to not answer,

"You know what, I don't care. Just please be here tomorrow around two." She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes.

"Can't promise anything," he said casually while straightening the papers on his desk.

"I want to get this over with! So will you quit being a pain in the ass, put your pride aside and be here to sign the papers so we don't have to keep bothering eachother!"

After that, there really seemed to be no point in telling her. She was clearly eager to end everything. House nodded and focused his attention on the file again.

Cameron started walking a way, stopping when she felt a bit guilty for snapping at him. She hated that he could make her feel like that especially when he deserved it.

"So," she made her way slowly back to his desk, "Tough case?" He nodded again, but didn't look at her.

"Can I see the file?" Handing it over, he watched her as she looked over the symptoms. She had that concentrated expression on her face that he loved, but missed out on ever since she moved to the immunology department.

They talked about the case. Neither coming up with anything that could bring them closer to the correct diagnosis.

"I almost forgot how tiring this was. I actually miss it though," Cameron said.

"You seem to find a lot of things tiring." He was sorting through the papers on his desk, gathering his things so he could leave and looked at her, realizing that she was confused by his statement.

"Work, phone calls, lawyers, patients...me." He wasn't expecting her to laugh, but smiled briefly when she did.

"I can handle all that."

"And yet you and I are in the situation that we're in."

"I can especially handle you. I wouldn't have married you if I thought that I wouldn't be able to deal with the way you are and you know that."

She was playing with his tennis ball sitting on his desk, avoiding his gaze, but she knew he was trying to read her.

"Then why did you say you wanted a divorce?"

"House, I really don't want to do this right now."

"I think I deserve to know why our marriage is ending."

"You're smart. I'm sure you can figure it out," glaring at him she continued,

"Besides you were for the idea too, grabbing clothes from my drawer, throwing them into a bag while yelling at me to get out."

House didn't say anything for a few moments because she was right, but the truth was that he was hurt when she finally told him what she wanted. That should be obvious.

"Why do you want this," he finally asked. Sighing, her lips tightened as she slipped her hands into her pockets.

"I can't be with someone I don't trust."

House didn't know how to respond. The first thing that came to mind was, 'what the hell is she talking about?' He never gave her a reason not to trust him. Anger stirred inside, his stomach clenched because this could possibly mean that he's losing her over something ridiculous, something that he was unaware of. Why couldn't she have just talked to him about it?

As he sat at his desk, Cameron had left, leaving him there to contemplate his next move, if it was even worth it.

The next day, House sent Wilson to find Cameron to find out what had actually happened. He was just as confused as House was about this. But then again, it is House and he isn't exactly one to open up, possibly even to his wife.

But Wilson didn't know.

On his search, he was rehearsing the conversation: 'Ask how she's doing...House is being a pain...The case is making everyone feel on edge... Divorce and the lawyer... What really happened between the two of them.'

It seemed logical, but he kept his fingers crossed, in hopes that she wouldn't realize that this was another House mission where he wanted another puzzle solved. Wilson found her down in the clinic and was careful about entering. If one of the nurses or worse, Cuddy saw him, he'd be stuck in an exam room. Sneaking around...he was like a mini House without the misery and snark.

"Cameron. When do you get off?"

"I'm actually finished." She smiled and was on her way to the elevators.

"Do you wanna go grab some lunch from the cafeteria? I'm buying."

"I can't pass up a free meal."

During lunch, Wilson succeeded in having casual conversation with Cameron without being obvious about his ulterior motive. After he finished his salad, he decided to go for it. Better sooner than later right?

"I don't want to meddle with your relationship, but I've been curious about this-"

"Why the divorce," she interrupted, wiping her hands on her napkin.

"Yeah."

Cameron was silent for a few moments, playing with her food and scanning the people in the cafeteria. Wilson thought that she wasn't going to answer his question. At least he tried. Taking a sip of his drink, she started talking but kept her focus on the table.

"It started off when I found a letter that Stacy sent to Greg. I read the first few lines and put it away since her intentions were clear in the beginning. I waited for Greg to tell me about it but he never did. I started getting upset because he was trying to keep it from me and...seemed to be distant. I figured he was having second thoughts about our relationship and wanted Stacy back. She still wanted him."

"Did you ever bring this up?"

"No. We both know how sensitive he is about Stacy and I told myself that I could trust him, that I was making a big deal out of it. But then we fought more about stupid things. I'd snap at him and I knew it was because of that fucking letter," pause, "I don't even know if he wrote one back. Maybe he called her."

"So this is because you think he was considering leaving you to be with Stacy."

"The night I got back from the conference Cuddy sent me to in Boston, Greg was still at work and Paula called." The name sounded familiar and Wilson was trying to think of why and then it hit him.

"The hooker?" She nodded,

"Greg had called her the night before and I hung up. I didn't need to hear anymore. When he came home I asked him about what he did over the weekend and we got into another fight. I never brought up Paula or the letter and just said I wanted a divorce. So...now he can be free to do whatever and whoever he wants."

Wilson didn't know what to say and in the middle of thought, Cameron rose from her seat with her tray,

"I'll talk to you later," she said.

He went through the conversation over and over in his head, but the one thing that stuck in his mind was Paula. Stacy wasn't a threat. House didn't want to be with her but Paula? A hooker? While Cameron was away. Wilson felt a wave of dizziness from shock, instantly growing furious with House. If he didn't have a good explanation for this, he was going to lose a friend as well.


	3. Chapter 3

  
Wilson stormed into House's office, 

"You are a real son of a bitch you know that?" He didn't give House time to respond and continued, "A hooker House? What the hell were you thinking? I-"

"What hooker," House asked, brows together in confusion.

Wilson chuckled in disbelief, "Don't even. Paula called when Cameron came home from her conference that night."

"Hold on-"

"You had sex with Paula while Cameron was away because you two were fighting! You couldn't deal so you decided to fuck a whore!"

"I did not have sex with Paula."

"Did you call her?"

"Yes-"

Wilson held up his hand to stop House from giving whatever bull shit line he had ready,

"Save it. I don't need to hear your lame excuse for fucking up your life."

With that, Wilson turned and left his office. If he stayed in there for a moment longer, who knows what would happen. House might possibly get a punch in the face if another lie was told. It made him sick to think that he could do that to Cameron. Wilson always thought that she was the right one for him, but no. House had to hide the letter and screw Paula while she was away. If Cameron needed help settling this divorce, by all means he was ready to do whatever it took to end it because she deserved much better than that.

As Wilson walked down the hall, he heard House calling for him, but didn't stop. He needed time away.

"Wilson! Just give me a minute!" He slowed his pace and finally turned to face him,

"I didn't sleep with Paula," House stated plainly.

"Then why did you call her?"

"Stop interrupting me and I'll explain."

Before House got another word in, Cuddy came up to them and handed Wilson a file, informing him that a patient was coming in to see him the next morning.

Perfect timing, right? Cuddy could sense the tension between the two friends but chose to ignore it and left. Wilson turned his attention back to House.

"I was coming home from work. My bike died. I didn't have money for a cab. A bus would be pointless. I called Foreman, he didn't answer. I called Chase, he was running tests. I called your cell, office, and apartment number but you didn't pick up. I even called Brenda-"

"Nurse Brenda?"

"Yeah. Cuddy was busy on her stupid blind date and my neighbors didn't pick up. Probably sleeping 'cause they're so damn old," pause, "I went through my phone and the last person I ended up calling was Paula."

"So your bike doesn't work and you decide to get a ride from one of your hookers," Wilson asked confused and unconvinced.

"Did you even listen to what I said . . . Paula never came because she was working that night. I had to walk all the way back to my place. Do you have any idea how long that took," he whined. There was a long pause and House said, "I wouldn't do that to Allison," another pause, "What did Paula say to her?"

Wilson sighed, but House attitude was evident enough that it was the truth and answered,

"Cameron hung up after she heard that you called the night before," Scanning the halls for Cameron he continued, "She found the letter Stacy sent to you." House looked up. Wilson wasn't sure if he was angry, confused, hurt…he couldn't tell.

"She never told me," House said with a shrug.

"She was waiting for you to say something. Why didn't you tell her about it?"

"Didn't think I needed to."

"Didn't think you needed to? House she's your wife. You should definitely tell her if an ex is trying to get you back whether it meant anything or not."

"She'd start feeling insecure and second guess everything we did together."

"So what?" Shaking his head, he started walking away calling out, "You screwed this up House."

Limping onto his balcony, House pulled out his cell phone and called Cameron asking her to meet him in his office before leaving that day.

* * *

It was late and House sat in the corner chair of his office, reading a medical journal when Cameron walked in. 

"Hi," he said with a slight smile that took a bit of effort to give.

"What did you need," she asked, crossing her arms.

"Your lawyer didn't come by today."

"She won't be able to 'til next week." He nodded and pretended to read his journal, "Do you want to go tomorrow," he asked nonchalantly while his focus still rested on the journal.

Lifting her eyebrow, "You're really going to meet me there," she asked unconvinced.

"Yeah. Might as well get this over with."

"Might as well."

Sensing a bit of awkwardness, she looked around his office, thinking while House sat in his chair, feet up, and juggling air between his cheeks.

They avoided each other's gaze, unsure of what to say. Cameron was waiting for him to come up with a time since she was always the one pushing everything, and House was fighting with himself, debating on bringing up the news that he recently heard.

He made a choice.

"Wilson told me." Cameron watched as he grabbed his cane and moved towards her, still keeping his distance.

"So much for secrets between friends," she said.

"I wasn't trying to hide anything from you." Massaging the side of her head she pleaded,

"Please. Greg. I don't want to talk about this."

"I need to talk about it because I'm not letting this end over a...misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? You practically pushed me away and-"

"I did NOT push you away. I was giving you space. Every time I joked, you'd throw it back in my face and then we'd fight." Taking a step towards her, she moved back.

"Allison-"

"Why didn't you tell me," she spoke softly. Sighing, he looked out the hall and back at her.

"Because the way Stacy felt didn't mean anything. I wouldn't have married you if I was still hung up on her and you should know that," shrugging, "I though you knew that."

"Fine."

"Fine? That's all you're going to say?"

"What else is there to say?"

He was getting angry, sarcastically stating,

"How 'bout, 'Gee Greg I'm sorry. Maybe it would be wrong for us to get divorced.'"

"It's not." The gentleness, the calm tone of her voice worried him. Just hearing her say that was enough for a sore lump in his throat to present himself, the pace of his heart to quicken in fear and she said,

"I told you I can't be with someone I don't trust."

"I wasn't hiding it from you."

"Did Wilson also bring up the phone call," she asked then tightening her lips in...hurt? Uncertainty?

Nodding, "I figured he would have told you about that."

Shaking her head,

"Greg. It's over. Just meet the lawyer and I tomorrow morning at nine," and walked out.

After she left, House went to Wilson's office, forcing him to call Cameron about their conversation earlier. Obviously, she wasn't going to listen to what House had to say anymore so his best bet was Wilson and hopefully he would be able to explain it without having her hang up.

Going back to his office, House waited and his cell phone rang a half hour later. Cameron wasn't convinced by Wilson's story, thinking there were parts of the story that were confusing, and House quickly went on his way to her place to explain everything.

If it didn't work, then he was going to have to except the fact that Cameron was going to be his ex-wife.


	4. Chapter 4

House sat in his beat up car outside Cameron's friends apartment where she had been staying for the past two months. A part of him felt that he should go in there and explain, try to fix everything, but there was also that voice in his head, shouting it was a waste of time, that it was over. 

This was why he never wanted to be in a relationship in the first place. Too complicated. It's just so much easier to meet a girl in a bar and fuck her in a bathroom or a hotel. No commitments, just pure pleasure. But devoting yourself to one person, letting the vulnerability show, trusting them with everything is too much because if it doesn't work out, then there's pain… emotional pain and that has to be the worst kind.

He banged his palm against the steering wheel over and over, shouting profanities to no one. Reaching in his pocket, he swallowed two pills, something he started doing again when Cameron left. The car was getting cold, so he turned the ignition, started the heat and put the car in drive. He couldn't do this.

As he drove, occasionally pounding the steering wheel, several thoughts were flooding his brain. 'Turn the wheel and hit that tree,' 'Go to Allison and solve this,' 'Call Wilson and get drunk at the bar,' 'Home,' 'Piano,' 'Scotch,' 'You are so fucked up,' 'You lost her,' 'You love her,' 'Turn around and explain.'

* * *

Cameron was sitting on the couch, finishing up some work that she brought back from the hospital. The tv was on quietly in the background. Some reality show. Looking at the clock, it was almost 11:30 and she had to finish up her work before going to bed. 

The problem was that she couldn't focus on anything she was doing, only Wilson's phone call. In a way, she did believe it, but then again, House could live with a lie. It was practically his motto. She remembered something he said to a patient once, "The most successful relationships are based on lies," and couldn't stop thinking that this was the case.

She was an ass to him when he didn't tell her about the stupid letter. They were always fighting, and hadn't had sex for a couple weeks. He was deprived, probably angry and called a hooker then came up with the story about his bike because he didn't want to be alone.

But would Wilson really follow through with that? Would Greg actually cheat on her? She couldn't decide, but felt she was most likely over-reacting again. There's a definite possibility that his bike stopped working and no one was available. Really, she knew this was the truth.

Shaking her head, she grabbed her pen and started focusing on her work again, hoping to get it done within the next hour.

* * *

House found himself outside the apartment door, walking up and down the hall, unable to get himself to knock. He looked at his watch, thinking that it was getting late and she was probably asleep. Not wanting to wake Allison or her friend, he headed back to the elevator, cursing himself as he did so. When the elevator doors opened, he thought, 'fuck it,' and went back, banging on the door with his cane. He waited for a minute before Cameron answered. 

"Greg, it's late and I have a lot of work to do so good night." As she started closing the door, House stuck his cane out to block it from shutting.

"I know what time it is but we need to talk."

"No we don't. Not now. We can talk tomorrow morning AFTER you sign the papers."

Sighing, "Allison, will you let me in?"

He knew this wasn't going to be easy but he couldn't help but feel irritated by the way this was going and how she was acting. Shaking her head, she walked back to the couch, leaving the door open for him to come in. Shutting it, he took a seat next to her.

Minutes passed, neither saying a word. Cameron could sense that House was nervous but chose not to comment and tried finishing the hospital work. Once the silence became too much she asked,

"Do you want a drink?"

"No. Thanks." She mouthed a silent 'okay,' going back to work. Tapping his cane nervously on the carpet, looking around the room then focusing on the ground, he asked,

"Is this really about Stacy and Paula or was that just a coincidence?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean were you thinking about getting a divorce before everything? Maybe they just gave you the excuse to finally do it."

"If this is some way to try and make me feel guilty, you should quit now because that's not it at all and I can NOT believe you would even suggest that." She stood and House followed.

"Well it's the only reason I can think of for why you're not letting me explain."

"I let you in here! You're the one who's sitting there! If you're so-" Before she could finish, he gripped her arms, pressing her body against his and kissed her. It didn't last long because she pushed him away, taking a step back, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Allison."

"Just go. Please." She didn't stick around for a response and on her way to her bedroom, she opened the front door, signaling him to leave.

House leaned heavily on his cane with both hands in front of him, watching her walk down the hall.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. The scenario he ran through in his head involved an explanation, apologies, kisses, and hot make up sex for the rest of the night. But this, this had crossed his mind but it wasn't supposed to play out in reality. There were two options: Leave followed by a divorce or stay leading to keeping Cameron.

"Paula was the last person I called and I didn't sleep with her...Never even crossed my mind." She turned and he began limping slowly towards her as he spoke softly,

"I didn't say anything about Stacy because then you'd worry and feel awkward around me and I hate that. Everything Wilson told you about Paula is true...I didn't bring it up because I was afraid that it would have lead to this," he said while waving his hand between them,

"And it did." He was so close, looking down at her and continued, "I messed up. I know that but we can fix this," pause, "I don't want this to end."

"I want this to go away, Greg. I want us to be okay again, but I can't-"

"Yes you can." She held her hand to his mouth. Holding it there and continued, "I can't pretend that everything is better. Please understand that." Uncovering his mouth, her lips tightened, head cocked to the side,

"This wasn't your fault. It was both of us, okay?" He shook his head in disagreement, "Yes, it was. This whole thing went about the wrong way. Isn't that telling you something?"

"Just stop," shrugging, "So we both screwed up. It happens with every marriage, but you can't drop it when things go bad and that's exactly what you're doing."

"But there's no relationship if there's no trust."

"Why do you keep saying that?! What do you want me to do, Allison?! Tell me!"

"Nothing."

"I fucked up! But I'm trying to get this out so we can move on!" He started limping away, pacing the living room, then stood in front of her again,

"Do you think I want to be with Stacy?" She shook her head 'no,' "Do you think I called Paula to have sex?" Again she shook her head. Hesitating, "Do you still love me?"

He hated that the question made him nervous, that everything had come to this.

After four months of dating, he no longer had doubts about Cameron's feelings for him, but now, standing there in front of her, unsure of her response, made him sick to his stomach and incredibly scared. She was his wife and he didn't know if she loved him or not.

"Allison. I love you." He didn't say that as often as he should, as often as he wanted to, but always knew that she knew. She understood him.

"I know." Biting her bottom lip, he noticed that her eyes were suddenly watery, then a tear streamed down the side of her face. He wanted to wipe it away, but felt as though he had lost that privilege a long time ago.

"Allison-"

"I know...Me too." Hearing those words, he immediately pulled her into his embrace, holding, hanging on tightly, breathing in her scent, kissing her shoulder and the side of her neck.

No matter how tightly he held her, it still felt as though she wasn't there, almost distant.

"I don't want this to end," he said into her shoulder. He stroked the back of her hair, giving a quick peck on the side of her head. On so many levels, as cliche as it may sound, he just couldn't let her go.

Slowly pulling away from him, but not letting go, there gazes locked.

"I need you to give me some time...just to think about a few things. About us."

It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but he could definitely handle it because the alternative was much worse.

He nodded, leaning down and brushed his lips against hers before placing his hand behind her head, keeping her there for a deep, frantic and greedy kiss. A few moments passed and he pulled away, kissing her forehead, then planting them down the side of her face to her neck. Placing her hands on his chest, she gently held him back and stepped away.

"I need time."

Reaching out, she took his hand and lead the way to the door.

Before walking out, he squeezed her hand before letting go and left.

When he got home, he went to straight to bed, feeling a bit more at ease because now there was a possibility that she would be coming back and he would wait.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a week since Cameron told House she needed time, the only question was how much? Whenever they came across one another at the hospital, there was a small exchange of words; the typical 'hello,' and, 'how are you,' with a smile. 

House didn't know what he needed to do in this situation. Should he come visit in her office? Ask her to lunch? Stay away? He found that his trips to Wilson's office were much more frequent as well as his time spent on the roof. This wasn't something he excelled in but definitely wasn't going to screw up whatever chance that was left for the two of them.

Standing on the roof, he heard the door open, not turning to see who had entered. Staring down at the street, Wilson came up beside him and they stood in silence for few minutes.

"Have you talked to her yet today," House asked, still watching the cars down below.

"No," sighing, "I know this is bothering you, but I think you need to not worry as much."

Before Wilson could say anything else, House faced him, glaring and snapped,

"Don't tell me not to worry. Nothing's for sure, this isn't better. For all I know, she's just trying to bring my hopes up to see how hard I crash when she leaves as some twisted punishment," he returned his focus down below.

"You don't believe that."

"I know," he conceded quietly. A few moments later,

"Just listen. No sarcasm please," Wilson said, catching House's attention as he looked at Wilson, "But whatever happens...you can come to me."

Nodding, "Thanks."

* * *

Cameron sat outside on a bench, staring at the food on her plate. The past week had been very distracting, and she found herself staring off whenever with a patient or working in the office. She didn't understand why she couldn't just drop everything, accept his reasoning for keeping his mouth shut, but it wasn't as easy as it seemed.

She hardly got any sleep because of the constant argument that ran through her head every night. It was the same thing, with the same result, but she couldn't follow through with the decision she'd come up with. It was ridiculous, confusing, and frustrating all at the same time. She loved House but it was difficult to let go of what had been believed to be true for a while no matter how much she wanted to.

They both messed up and now had to try to move on.

Let go.

* * *

House waited for Cameron outside her office. After debating with himself and some convincing from Wilson, he decided to try and spend some time with her, even if it was a little soon. He was leaning against the wall, head tilted back and eyes shut when Cameron came back.

"That can't be comfortable," she said. Opening his eyes, he looked over at her, displaying a tired smile.

"Hey."

She unlocked the door and walked in, leaving it open as an invitation.

"So what's up," she asked. Noticing her attempt at nonchalance, he figured that he'd pretend everything was alright too.

"Just wanted to see how you were," he said, taking a seat in front of her desk, "Have you gone to lunch yet?"

"I just got back."

"Right."

House tapped his fingers on the handle of his cane, looking around her office like he'd never been in there before. Truth was, he had no idea what to say.

Cameron was searching through her drawers and seemed to be ignoring House. Rejecting his offer for help, he sat there a few more moments.

After watching for some time without any progress he chose to leave her alone and try again later. Opening the door she asked,

"Was there something that you needed?"

He shook his head, "No."

* * *

Walking out of the exam room an hour after visiting Cameron, House saw her laughing with a man by the elevators. Curiosity and jealousy got the better of him as he tossed the patient's folder on the nurses desk, limping over to interrupt.

Wilson was talking to Cuddy when his attention locked on House. Noticing the determined expression across his face, he followed his line of vision to Cameron, excusing himself to stop House from doing something incredibly stupid. Not just embarrassing, but ruining any chance with Cameron because his character sometimes made him a territorial moron.

"You'll regret it if you go over there," Wilson warned with his hand on House's chest.

"Who is he," asked House, motioning to the man. Wilson turned around and answered,

"I have no idea," pause, "Come on. Let's go bother Cuddy."

He pulled House by the arm, trying to get him to follow. Still watching Cameron he asked,

"Patient? Old friend? Date?"

"House, I don't know. I'm going to get lunch. I'll pay for yours." Hesitating, House went with, after one last look at Cameron and some asshole.

The day was not going too well after his visit with Cameron.

She ignored him.

She appeared to be getting friendly with another man.

What next?

Before leaving work, House made a quick trip to Cameron's office just to say goodnight and maybe find out about that guy she was with earlier. Knocking on the door once, he opened it, peeking his head through to see her elbow rested on the desk, head in hand. Looking up, she smiled and focused on her work again.

"Came to say good night," he said

"Good night." He started closing the door, but decided against it and took a seat in front of her desk.

"Soo. You have any plans for tonight," he asked casually, paying close attention to her reaction for any sign of guilt or discomfort. She was clear.

"I'm going out to dinner. You?"

"Anyone I know?" Smiling, she put her pen down and stared at him, almost like a challenge,

"Aren't you supposed to be asking me 'who was that guy you were with before?'" Busted. He waited for her to answer but was growing impatient when it didn't come right away.

"Well?"

"He's donating to the immunology department and offered to take Cuddy and myself out to dinner."

"Seems like a nice guy. You two apparently get along." Lifting her eyebrow, she chose to ignore his comment, which made him upset, and he got up to leave.

"Greg," she waited for him to face her before continuing, "I told you that I just need some time to think, not to date." He nodded and left, feeling a little better.

* * *

To say things were strange, uncomfortable would be an understatement.

A few days later, House was getting food from the cafeteria when he saw Cameron at a table with her lawyer. Fighting the urge to join and find out why the hell Cameron was still wasting her time with a lawyer, he grabbed his sandwich and left, even though his appetite suddenly disappeared. He needed some encouraging words at that moment from Wilson.

The rest of the day for House was spent in the office, music blasting from his I-pod, blinds shut, and door locked. Wilson wasn't as helpful as he hoped but the sound of jazz was relaxing as he leaned back in his chair, feet up on the desk, trying to fall asleep.

He woke up after a shot of pain rippled through his leg. After taking his vicodin, he looked over at the clock and saw it was close to midnight and figured that he should probably go home.

* * *

When he got to his door, it was unlocked and he entered cautiously. Walking in, he noticed that the tv was on, and scanned the apartment from the front door, listening. He hadn't seen a car parked outside, but that could be because he was exhausted and not paying attention. Taking a few steps forward, he stopped, shocked to see Cameron lying on the couch asleep.

He sat down on the armrest and shook her gently. Mumbling something, she swatted his hand away, and he couldn't hold back a laugh. Tucking her hair behind her ear, he bent down and kissed her cheek, moving to sit on the coffee table across from her, watching and admiring, with his chin resting on the cane.

Minutes passed and he nudged her shoulder again. Rolling, she almost fell off, but House caught her in time, pushing her back onto the couch. This woke her up.

"It's not nice to break in to a person's home and take over their couch," House said with a smirk.

"I have a key. I did live here you know," she said lightly.

Suddenly serious,

"You still could."

She didn't respond and looked up at the ceiling, trying to wake up and remember why she had come by and then it came to her.

"I talked to my lawyer today."

"Yeah. I saw," pause, "Is that why you came here?"

"Well, I couldn't talk to you at work since you locked yourself in," she joked. He wasn't in the mood for joking. He wanted this to be over. He wanted her home.

"Is that the only reason you came? To tell me about your lawyer?"

"I filled her in on what was going on. That this divorce might not happen."

"Might not happen? Allison," he stood up, ran his hand down the front of his face, trying to stay calm, "I want you to come home. We can't fix this if you're not here."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," she sat up, her head in her hands.

"Why?!"

"It's hard for me to be around you! I'm just not ready yet."

Still sitting, she looked up at him and saw that he was staring at her with those intensely blue eyes that were somehow asking for some reasoning.

"I believe you. About everything. I know you don't want Stacy. I know that Paula was just a misunderstanding, but I still don't feel right around you."

"What do you want me to do," he asked softly.

"Let me finish. Whenever I think about it, I keep coming back to the thought that you could have just said that she sent it. You could have told me that you called Paula. It's-"

"I know. But how many times do I have to say I screwed up. This isn't something I'm good at," his hand motioned between them.

"But you can't keep things like that from me. No matter what."

"I know and I won't," he took the seat next to her, "Just come back home and we can work on this."

Cameron hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck, and along the side of her face. She wasn't prepared for this and unsure if it was a good idea. Avoiding his gaze, focusing on the table, she decided that going back to their old routine together could help them out. And she loved him. She missed him and wanted this to go away.

"Allison." House was getting nervous, watching her struggle in thought. She got up and moved to the door, "Allison wait," he followed.

"I need to get my things," she said and smiled.

As she opened the door, House took hold of her arm and she looked at him over her shoulder. Recognizing the silent question, she nodded allowing him to lean down and kiss her.

"Do you want me to come with you," he asked, his forehead resting against hers.

"Yeah."

"Great," he pulled back, "Just let me get my keys so I can lock the door. Don't need anyone else's cooties on my couch."

"Shut up, Greg." Smirking he followed her to the car.


	6. Chapter 6

On the ride over to pick up Cameron's things, House was making fun of her taste in music since Christina Aguilera's "Candy Man" blasted through the speakers when the car turned on, leaving House no choice but to eject the CD immediately and toss it out the window. The rest of the way they kept changing radio stations, never settling on one. 

Other couples would probably have viewed their behavior as annoying, childish, a waste of time, and would probably try to avoid them, but House and Cameron enjoyed the banter. It was something done often before everything happened and they found it almost comforting.

When they arrived, Cameron had House wait in the hall before going in. If her friend was home, then he would have to wait in the car since Cameron hadn't really talked to Lauren about what was going on. As of then, Lauren thought that House cheated on Cameron with a hooker and was thinking about getting back together with his ex.

Quite a combination, right?

The coast was clear, and he followed her to the guest bedroom. House's jaw dropped when she opened up the closet.

"What's that look for," she asked.

"Did you and Lauren raid a mall?"

He was referring to the ridiculous amount of clothes that were on hangers, the several pairs of shoes lined neatly in a row and had no doubts that there was more in the dresser.

"Of course. Shopping makes any girl feel better. Don't worry, I took cash out from your debit card." He smirked and leant down to give a quick kiss.

"How much did you spend," he asked once fully registering what she said. Giving him a cheeky grin, she went back to sorting through her clothes.

Ignoring his own question, "Alright, get your stuff together. I want to order a pizza," he said.

"Greg, it's one o'clock in the morning."

"So what? We've done it plenty of times," pause, "Where is Lauren anyway?"

"I have no idea. Probably in another guy's bed. She thinks that this one's a keeper."

"Just like the last three," he stated plainly with a smirk.

Laughing, "Exactly."

House had to really fight back a comment about getting her in bed, figuring that they still needed to work on a few things before that would happen. It sucked, but make up sex is definitely worth the wait.

* * *

When they got back to House's place or** their** place, he didn't know where Cameron planned on sleeping. If she wasn't comfortable being in the same bed as him, then he could take the couch. There was no need to ask about it since Cameron carried her bags into the bedroom and started unpacking her things while he leaned against the doorway. 

"Soo, pizza," he asked to break the silence.

"Sure." Nodding, he pulled out his cell and ordered.

* * *

After dinner, they sat on the couch, watching re-runs of CSI. Sitting a cushion apart, House had his arm rested on the back of the couch as a small invitation for her to scoot towards him. He watched her out the corner of his eye, finding the perfect moment to gently pull her next to him. 

It never came.

She seemed uncomfortable and he turned off the tv while grabbing his cane. He needed to see where they were at the moment.

"Bed," he offered.

Hesitating, she nodded and headed to the room. House stayed behind, studying her movements and maybe checking her out a bit at the same time. Noticing that her shoulders were tense, he said,

"I'll take the couch."

"Why?"

"You didn't even sit next to me on the couch and your body language right now is telling me that you don't want me sleeping in the same bed as you."

"I'm sorry. We just haven't been together in a while and I'm trying to get used to this," she replied softly.

Nodding his understanding he asked, "So am I on the couch or-"

"Bed. Now," and she took hold of his hand, guiding him into the room. He couldn't hold back a grin as they walked through the doorway.

On the way to her suitcase, Cameron pulled her shirt over her head, searching through it for some kind of a night shirt. House stared, mouth slightly open,

"That's tempting, you know," he said while pulling out another band t-shirt and pajama pants from his dresser.

"Maybe that's what I was going for."

House paused, unsure of what she meant. Did she want him to go to her or was it meant to tease? Deciding that it didn't matter, he limped towards her, grinning when she bit her lower lip. House wasn't able to decipher that as nerves, but knew that neither were going to back down.

Taking off his shirt, he reached out to grab her waist, tugging her body against his own, pressing on her lower back to bring her closer while kissing her slow and deep. His upper body went slightly limp as a moan escaped from his mouth into hers when she reached down to stroke him through his jeans.

God he missed this. He missed her.

Backing up, she fell onto the bed, scooting backwards as House followed above her, eyes never leaving one another. Holding himself up, Cameron rubbed her hands up and down his arms, enjoying the definition that was there then placed one hand behind his head, bringing him down for another kiss as the other hand moved down from his chest to unbuckle his belt.

Unable to hold back his groans, his kiss became more desperate, sloppy and needy. Arching her back to let him unfasten the clasp, he worked his way along her jaw and down to her neck, trying to pull off her jeans without allowing his lips the absence of her skin. He had thought that he was never going to do this again and was overwhelmed with desire.

Hovering over her, both ready and breathing heavily, he had to make sure that this was really what she wanted, that it was okay and not forced.

"You alright," he whispered scanning her features for anything to make him believe that this was too much, too soon. When she nodded her consent, their gazes locked as he slipped inside her.

* * *

The next morning, Cameron was quiet as she got ready for work. House tried getting her to speak to him but every question asked, she either gave a one word response or a nod. It made him nervous, but more than that it pissed him off. Obviously it was because of the night before. He had given her an out but she chose to keep going and now he had to pay. 

On the way to work, House constantly glanced over at Cameron who was staring out the window. He turned on the radio but nothing was on. He tried talking about work and dinner for that night. She would shrug or say 'I don't know.'

Walking through the parking lot, House limped faster to stand in front of her. Looking confused, she stepped to the side to get around him, he stepped in front to block, asking,

"What's wrong? You've barely said a word all morning," pause, "If this is about last night-"

"No," he lifted an eyebrow in disbelief but didn't say anything, "And yes," she said.

"Great. So we're back to this now."

"Back to what?"

"This. You feeling uncomfortable around me."

"I don't regret it, Greg, but...it somehow didn't feel right waking up next to you."

"What are you saying? You still want a divorce?"

"NO. No. This is why I didn't say anything because you would get the wrong idea." She began walking away as he followed her.

"So then what is it? I need to know now, do you want to be with me or not?"

"Of course I do. I wouldn't have moved back in if I didn't." This was the answer he was hoping for otherwise he would have been angry with himself and her if last night had fucked up everything.

House didn't push the subject any further and they walked into the hospital together. When the elevator doors opened, they were the only two inside and Cameron laced her fingers in his,

"I do love you, Greg."

"I know."

"Good," she let out a sigh of relief as if it was something that she needed to get off her chest. House couldn't hold back a small laugh afterwards.

When the elevators opened for Cameron's floor, House followed into her office.

"Was it because we haven't slept together in a while," he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"You said it didn't feel right waking up next to me. I wanna know if it's because we haven't done so in a while or if it's something else."

Cameron exhaled deeply, "Yes. I'm not having second thoughts alright?"

She was clearly frustrated with his unwillingness to drop this, but he needed to know.

"Alright."

They both knew that this wasn't going to be easy, that there was still some getting used to, but both were somehow willing to make the impossible possible.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I decided to put two chapters together so it's definitely longer than the others.

Chapter 7

It had been two weeks since Cameron moved back in with House. Things weren't really working out after their first night back together. Everything with her was about distance and avoidance. Spending a lot of her time in the study, going over patient files and finishing up some of his paperwork that was long overdue, just to pass the time. She wanted to work on things in her own office at the hospital, but House would insist that she bring it back home like she used to before. Unable to say no, she would come home with him.

The effort he was putting in to their relationship was obvious and she couldn't really deny his requests at the little things. Sitting close to him on the couch while watching some crappy television show that he liked to watch, usually those awful soap operas where the plot was more difficult than a calculus problem. Ordering take-out. Discussing patients. Falling back into their morning routines. Sleeping in the same bed.

There were several times when House tried to initiate sex, but she would roll away from him, grabbing his hand at the same time so that it would wrap around, holding her. If she wasn't ready to go back to **that** routine, she could at least allow him to stay close as some sort of reassurance that she still wanted this, wanted them. She knew that it concerned him, especially since she was so willing the first night back, but trusted the thought that he understood.

* * *

One night, Cameron came home later than House and he was on the phone with someone, immediately saying his goodbye's when he noticed her presence. 

"Who was that," she asked while placing her coat on the rack.

His hesitance was apparent and she wasn't sure what that meant. After a few moments of silence, her thoughts ran instantly to Stacy. 'Fantastic,' she thought to herself and then realized that she was, again, overreacting. He hadn't even answered her question yet.

"Greg?"

Sitting on the couch, he turned to face her,

"That was Stacy," he answered casually.

"Oh." 'Of course,' she thought. She didn't really know how she was supposed to respond without making something of it, so she walked into the kitchen to find something for dinner. It was pointless since they'd probably end up ordering something anyway. On her way to the kitchen, she felt House's eyes following her and he asked,

"Oh? That's it?" He stood from the couch and limped into the kitchen after her, watching as she searched the fridge for something to eat.

"We don't have any food," he said with hidden irritance.

"I see that. I'll go shopping tomorrow," she said while closing the refrigerator.

Pulling down a glass from the cabinet, she could hear his cane bouncing on the ground behind her and tried to ignore it.

House stood there, leaning against the doorway, trying to figure out why she was acting this way. Clearly she wasn't upset or maybe she was and had learned to hide her emotions very well. Her reaction to the fact that he had just gotten off the phone with Stacy was bothering him. It was unsettling to think that she didn't seem to care.

Ever since she moved back, nothing felt right; it was awkward. Having her back made him happy at first, but her behavior lessened that feeling, basically taking it away and replacing it with worry and discomfort.

When she turned around, they stared at each other for a moment before she asked,

"So what do you feel like ordering?"

He couldn't hold back a laugh. It was a great tactic to avoid a much needed discussion since they always spent at least fifteen minutes figuring out what they should order before finally agreeing on a place. By that time, Stacy's conversation would be in the back of the mind and hidden behind excuses of tiredness or being too busy with work. House wasn't going to allow that to build and chose to just get it out in the open.

"She's coming into town this Friday for one of her 'clients.'" She nodded.

"I'm guessing she was calling to make plans."

"Yeah."

"You should go. Spend some time with her."

"Allison. Don't."

"What? I'm just saying I think you should take her out. Lunch. Dinner. Something."

"Nooo that comment wasn't an insinuation but an assumption. You think that I want to spend time with her and was looking for your consent. Newsflash, if I wanted to be with her, I would. If I still had feelings for her, I wouldn't have come after you."

"Greg, you're overreacting."

He scoffed, "I'm overreacting? You're the one who insists that I be with her when she comes."

"I suggested it once. You could have just said no, but instead you chose to make an argument out of it. That can only mean one thing."

"Oh, shut up," her eyes went wide and he continued, "Ever since you moved back, you've made this the most uncomfortable experience. Your insecurities are blocking any chance of us actually getting back together, not me, not Stacy. Everything about us is up to you. I've tried."

He turned and limped away from her, grabbing his jacket from the back of the couch. As the door began to shut, he shouted that he would be at Wilson's.

* * *

Cameron waited up for House, hoping that he would come home. But he never did. She had a lot of time to think and hated the fact that he was right again. Everything between them was going to hell now because of her. If things were going to work out, if everything was going to be pushed behind them, it had to be her that allowed that to happen. He was alone in trying to fix everything and she crushed every attempt made at normalcy for them. 

It was around one when she decided to go to bed. As she lay alone, it was clear that she needed him there. Rolling onto her side, she tried falling asleep but couldn't and grabbed his pillow, holding onto it while breathing his scent to calm her.

She awoke to the sound of a key turning the lock and opening the door. It wasn't until she heard the sound of his cane on the floor that she relaxed. She kept her back facing the door, wanting him to think that she was asleep because that moment was not a good time to talk. The only thing she wanted was for him lay in the bed next to her. Hearing him make his way over, she smiled slightly at the dip, signaling that he was in bed with her.

She tried not to jump when she felt his hand suddenly rest on her thigh, rubbing up and down her side, then massaging her right shoulder. Still keeping her eyes closed, but welcoming his touch, she pleaded in her head for him to continue.

"I love you," he whispered then rolled onto his back, hand coming with.

Not wanting it to end, she turned to her side, startling him a bit since he thought she was asleep. Running her hand up his chest to behind his shoulder, she gently pulled him towards her, making him lay on his side to face her.

Avoiding his gaze, she focused her attention on her hand as it roamed his body. Through his hair, across his cheek, fingers tracing his lips and collarbone, down to his bare chest.

He watched her hand as it moved down to his thigh, massaging it lightly for a few moments then traveling to his stomach, circling his bellybutton and using her fingernails as she moved back to his chest, provoking a soft hiss.

Every touch sent shocks of pleasure to his groin, making his arousal more and more apparent. His fingers were itching to feel her, any part of her, but instead he waited for the moment when she was ready to grant him permission to fulfill that need to have her.

His eyes fixed on hers, scanning her concentrated features as she continued to focus her attention on her movements.

It wasn't until she took hold of his hand that his attention left her face. His mouth opened slightly as his breathing became shallow while she guided him along her side to her left breast, squeezing his hand to apply pressure.

Scooting closer to him, she felt his arousal on her stomach and became aware of the heat that was building between her legs.

Placing her hand on the side of his face, she leaned in and once their lips touched, he moaned at the contact after a long absence, deepening the kiss, unconsciously thrusting his hips against her slowly.

During the kiss, she rolled onto her back, bringing him with her until he was settled between her thighs, fully aware of his thigh during their shift in position.

Pulling away, he stared down at her, moving to her neck, giving open mouth kisses, sucking and licking across her throat, giving the other side his attention.

Her nails were lightly scraping along his back, causing his body to shudder. It was steadily becoming more difficult for him to stay in control with every touch almost making it increasinly difficult to maintain control, to slow down before the moment ended sooner than it should.

It was a surprise when he took off her shirt to see her naked before him, and he instantly closed his eyes, bit his lip, willing himself to keep it together. The only thing stopping them were his boxers that he quickly pulled off and tossed to the floor.

Positioning himself once again above her, he leaned down for another kiss that lasted longer than he intended as their tongues wrestled one another, savoring each other's taste. When it became too much, air, control, he moved away, watching her face as he easily slid inside her.

Her back arched as she moaned in approval as his pace was fast and hard immediately. Every thrust was backed with need, frustration, anger, passion, yearning, and love all into one. He physically could not start out slow and work his way up. It had to be right then. They needed it.

Each time he pushed inside her, a sound, a word of encouragement, promises would escape their lips causing their rhythm to elevate and their release rapidly approaching. Their breathing was labored, both practically suffocating from the overwhelming feeling of lust and the need to make things right. Deep down they both knew that this moment would either fix or break everything that they had.

The waves of pleasure accelerated through their bodies as they both moved frantically, kissing and swallowing each others moans, working to stay in control, to make the moment last a little longer, but failing miserably.

When it was clear that he couldn't hold back any longer, he pressed his thumb to her clit, rubbing in circles and pinching gently until her head tilted, back arched and she shouted his name. He came hard inside her, muffling his groans into the side of her neck.

When their breathing was close to normal, House rolled off, and silently pulled Cameron to his side, kissing the top of her head. A few moments later, Cameron spoke up,

"I'm sorry."

"Now is definitely not the time to talk about Stacy."

"As annoying as it is, you were right. I know I haven't been helping with us."

He was rubbing her back in circles as she spoke, soothing her so she would continue.

"Thinking you cheated and wanted to be with her instead of me for so long wasn't easy to let go. And then I thought about everything that we went through to get to where we are. I can't let us go."

"Good," pause, "This is the last time I'm going to say it, look at me." He waited until she gave her attention to him and said, "I do not want to be with Stacy."

She nodded and rested her head on his chest.

"She's old anyway so quit being a baby about it," he quipped. Pinching his stomach, he twitched, grabbing her wrist,

"You ass," she said behind a small laugh.

"But you love this brilliant crippled ass with I might add with amazing stamina for his age anyway."

"I guess so," she chuckled at the certainty and stroking of his ego.

Chapter 8

The next morning, House woke up, grabbing the blankets to rest below his chin to get rid of the sudden morning chill he felt along his body. Once he registered what was going on, he looked to the other side of the bed to find that there was no one in it. Before going into panic mode, he took a vicodin and slipped on a pair of boxers while listening for any movement to detect her presence. There was nothing. Not even the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

Grabbing his cane, he limped into the bathroom to find it empty. There was no one in the living room or the kitchen. He noticed that her jacket was missing, her keys were gone, and that was when he grew nervous.

After last night, he figured that everything was finally beginning to really clear up between the two of them. There was nothing to understand now about the situation. Could it be that Cameron still had her doubts about his feelings for Stacey, considering she was arriving within the next few days? Maybe she just wanted one last go before she left for good. He kicked himself for thinking that and went into the kitchen to make coffee, deciding that he needed to stop jumping to conclusions. He convinced himself that he was on edge only because they were trying to fix their relationship.

On his way to work, he debated calling Cameron's cell, always snapping it shut before pressing send. When he arrived at PPTH, he circled the car park to see if she was there yet. She wasn't. Driving around a few more times, in case he missed it, he finally gave up and parked into his personal spot.

* * *

It was lunch time when Cameron walked into his office, taking a seat in the front of his desk. 

"Where did you go this morning," he asked, eyeing her accusingly. She knew he hated waking up alone and was going to get an explanation.

"I had a few things I needed to take care of," she stared down at the floor as she spoke. He watched her, trying to read between the lines, but there didn't seem to be anything.

"Like what," pressing his lips together and lifting his eyebrows, he was working to stay nonchalant, trying not to express the worry that he had been feeling all day. He needed her to trust him, to know he thought that everything was fine.

There was something going on with her. Something that he couldn't quite place. She ignored his question,

"Do you want to go get something to eat?" His eyes narrowed at her response, and she still wasn't looking at him. Deciding that it wasn't worth arguing about he grabbed his cane,

"Sure."

* * *

They sat at a café a few blocks away from the hospital, saying a few words here and there, nothing too serious or even worth mentioning. The entire time Cameron kept shifting in her seat, apparently unable to find a comfortable position. She'd take off her shoe and sit on her foot, or lean back, crossing her arms in front of her chest, or hold her head up with her hand while tapping her fingers. It was driving House crazy watching her like this, not knowing what the hell was on her mind. Just seeing her jittery made him begin to shift uncomfortably until finally he had enough, 

"Would you stop!"

Looking up at him, she wasn't confused, she wasn't hurt, but she did appear to feel guilty and nodded. With an apologetic sigh, he reached across the table to stroke her forearm with his thumb until she allowed her eyes to settle on his.

"What's going on with you today?"

She turned away from him for a bit and answered,

"Can we talk about this when we get home?" Nodding, he gently squeezed her arm before sliding his hand away. The rest of their meal was eaten in silence as he kept glancing in her direction to find anything that would explain why she was so...uneasy.

* * *

When House and Cameron walked into their home that night, she instantly shoved him backwards, pinning him between her body and the door feeling his chest pressing into hers with every short breath of air. Reaching for his face, she tugged his head to bring his lips close to hers, softly grazing, barely touching, but still leaving a gentle wet trail across his lower lip with the tip of her tongue before crashing her lips to his. 

Her fingers gripped chunks of his hair, provoking and swallowing the grunt from his pain while sliding her hands down his chest to the buckle of his belt.

House opened his mouth, begging for her to force her tongue inside, but she never did. Biting his lower lip, he groaned in frustration, gripping her upper arms, forcefully her against him almost pleading for her taste, to deepen their kiss, and satisfy his need.

She wasn't allowing it. It felt like teasing, and his hands slithered down her back to the curve of her ass, lifting her off the ground and spinning their bodies around so that she was now the one pinned against the door.

His hips pressed against hers again and again, as she wrapped her legs around his middle, using the leverage to heighten the pace of their grind. His mouth against her neck, scraping, biting, marking, releasing some pent up anger and in his case relieve some pain.

Whimpering at the feel of his arousal brushing against her, she worked the buttons of his shirt so she could feel his skin, rake her fingers across his chest to hear that hiss of pleasure that always elevated her excitement at the control, the sounds she could make escape his lips.

Lowering her head, she nibbled his ear while he moaned in enjoyment as she whispered,

"Pants off."

Bringing her down, his fingers frantically worked to finish unbuckling his belt as he eyed her, motioning to her clothing as a silent command that she do the same. It was almost like a race as both their pants dropped, and he lifted her up again, thrusting deep inside her with one stroke, smirking when she cried out into his shoulder.

Driving himself inside her, slipping in and out with shallow thrusts and occasional deep strokes to fill her completely, he grabbed her chin to kiss, squeezing her cheeks and shoving his tongue inside when she gasped. Nipping along her jaw line,

"Why did you leave," he panted while moving inside her, pressing her clit before she spoke.

"Oh god...ah, I had an appointment."

Picking up his pace he said through heavy breaths, "Why...for...what...fuck Alli-...you're not leaving."

"No. I'm not," shaking her head, eyes closed and her forehead resting on his shoulder.

Slamming into her, she moaned aloud, digging her nails into his blazer covered shoulder, biting her lower lip to fight back her screams at the pain of her back hitting the wall over and over.

"Gah...what for," House was demanding it, thrusting harder, hoping to push the answer right out of her. They were both close, sweat building along his forehead, mouths slightly open at the fulfilling sensation and the accessibility for air. Her hesitance wasn't lost on him and he bit the side of her neck,

"Fuck...I'm pregnant."

Those words, those two words meant so much more to House than just 'I'm pregnant.' It was like 'I'll never leave,' 'I'm yours,' 'I love you.' Now that she was pregnant, it was like an unspoken promise that she was going to be with him for good because they'd have a kid to take care of, and Cameron would never allow a child to grow up without a father.

He loved her.

She loved him.

And she was having his kid.

At the thought, he drove faster inside her, their rhythm becoming so intense, so controlling as he circled his thumb against her clit. He felt her muscles flexing on his cock, signaling that she was going to come. He kept his pace, encouraging in her ear with words and grunts of satisfaction. It was almost too much when he felt her juices coat and warm his shaft, and he came hard inside her, kissing her lips gently then pulling back to forces their gazes to lock, giving her his pensive stare.

She wiped the sweat away from his forehead with her thumb when he stopped and leant forward to kiss it gently before cupping his face in her hands. Setting her down, he pulled up his pants, grabbed her hand and lead her to the room.

* * *

When Cameron nestled against his side, he wrapped his arms around her frame and kissed her deeply with so much adoration until a thought popped into his mind, 

"Why didn't you tell me," he asked. The tips of their noses touching.

Stroking his cheek, her thumb grazing across his lips, she closed her eyes and exhaled a breath of exhaustion and uncertainty. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed the hint of worry that was hidden behind his stare, but she was going to be honest,

"I don't know if I want it," she admitted.

House scanned her features for a sign, something to prove that what he'd heard was wrong, that she didn't just confess to not wanting to have his kid. He felt a sudden soreness in his throat and struggled for air as he turned away from her, unwilling to show her how heavy a blow this was for him.

Rolling onto his back, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, unsure of where he was going to go when he felt her hand grab his wrist. Looking over his shoulder, he watched her scoot towards him to wrap her arms around his neck,

"We need to talk."

His eyes closed, and the changes his body was experiencing were not getting any better. If she was going to say that it wasn't his, he was going to leave, but honestly didn't know what was going to happen to him. Raising his hand to hold her arms in place, he felt something warm against his cheek. Tears? Before he could speak,

"I'm afraid I'll lose it," she whispered.

I wanted to write just one more chapter to finish this up, but then this idea came into my head. If you think I should take out this chapter and re-write it, let me know, otherwise I could just keep goin from here


	8. Chapter 8

There was no convincing Cameron to keep the baby because really, it was up to her. Practically everything regarding them was up to her.

Everything.

The way House saw it was like this:

a) She keeps the baby, they raise it together, and she stays with him for good.

Or

b) She ends up terminating the pregnancy, distancing herself all the way to the inevitable 'I can't look at you without thinking of my loss; I'm leaving.'

It always went that way. Hearing Cameron say that she was pregnant took away all the doubts, worries, uncertainties, fears, any adjective that can be thought of that could somehow describe being ultimately afraid. But all those feelings shoved their way back with a few simple words, 'I don't know if I want it.'

Just like 'I'm pregnant' meant more to him than that, so did her response for not telling him sooner. The hidden meaning, what he felt was the _true _meaning: 'I'm not sure I want to be with you,' 'I can't be stuck with you forever.'

There was no amount of alcohol or vicodin that could eliminate every depressing emotion that creeped its way back to him that had nearly disappeared when he and Cameron started an official relationship. Right then, outside the hospital at 3 o'clock in the morning, he felt the way he did long before: miserable, lonely, pathetic, and crippled.

She had done this to him.

She wanted him to understand, to realize that it wasn't him, it was her. _'What a bullshit and utterly cliché line to pull,'_ he thought to himself on the bench.

He wasn't falling for it for a millisecond. It was a half-assed attempt at saying, 'I don't want to hurt you even though I'm pretty much stabbing you a million times in the chest. Don't worry, it's not you, it's me.' It's like saying 'no offense' but really, isn't that just an apology for the truth?

He knew how to observe and read people's actions, reactions, and notice the sudden twitch in their features when something was wrong or they were telling a lie. It wasn't assumptions but more observations. He wasn't the number one diagnostician in the country for nothing, and he could have sworn that he spotted a brief change in Cameron's expression when she explained.

Grabbing his cane, he rose from his seat on the bench to get into his car and drive away. He didn't know where he was going to go, but it was too cold to sit outside any longer.

Cameron lay in bed, staring at the ceiling while the conversation with House replayed in her mind over and over. Well, it wasn't really a conversation. The only response he offered were nods and short grunts just so she knew that he was listening.

Rubbing her hand along her arm, she looked at the clock realizing that House had been gone for almost two hours. It was probably best that she gave him time to think, but she desperately wanted to call, to make sure that he was okay. Everything was complicated, but she hoped that he understood, that her opinions on the whole situation meant nothing against him.

It had everything to do with her nerves, insecurities, and worries.

The next morning, Wilson walked into his office, immediately noticing the form lying/snoring on his couch. House. Tapping his shoulder, House mumbled something into the cushion then woke up, groaning in pain as he grabbed the bottle of vicodin in his left pocket.

"Did you know that it's illegal to break in and enter," Wilson asked as he rested his jacket on the back of his chair and tossing his suit case under the desk.

House slowly began to sit up, hissing in discomfort at the aching in his leg and back, while massaging the soreness in his neck, "Not when you have a key," he stated plainly in his groggy morning voice.

"Yes a key I'm sure you stole when I wasn't looking."

"Does it really matter how I got it," House asked gruffly.

Wilson took a seat, "Fight?"

"Not really and we're not talking about it." He grabbed his cane, pulling out his bottle of vicodin again, swallowing another pill.

"House, you wouldn't have come in here if you didn't want to talk about it. Obviously something is up so just this once, make it easy on me and spill."

Exhale, "Allison's pregnant," House looked over at Wilson to see his mouth slightly open in shock. Shaking his head,

"And you're sleeping in my office because you decided to be you-"

"She's not sure if she wants to have it. I do," House hesitated but continued, "If we don't have this baby...I think she'll leave."

Wilson was puzzled, not only by the idea of Cameron being pregnant but that House was actually willing to go through with it,

"Did she tell you why she doesn't want it."

House's head snapped up to face Wilson, "She said she's not sure if she wants it. Don't make this any worse."

It was apparent that this was bothering his friend so the little outburst could slide. This was something that Wilson wasn't good at, comforting snarky best friends who could whack you with their cane if the wrong thing was said about their unborn child. This is one of those times when that instruction manual for Gregory House would come in handy.

"What did she say, House?" Rising from his place on the couch, he limped over to the chair in front of Wilson's desk and sat down.

"She told me about her husband," tapping his cane, "After they got married, Allison wanted to have a baby with him, have something that was theirs as...a reminder and all that girly crap." Wilson leaned back in his chair as House continued,

"It never happened, and a doctor that she went to said that she couldn't have kids-"

"Because" Wilson drew out the word in question and curiosity.

"Does it really matter? She's thinking about not having _my _kid. She wanted one so badly with her first husband, but once we make one, her instinct is to freak out and terminate."

"I don't think that's what she meant by her story-"

"She doesn't want to have a baby with **me**, Wilson!" House shouted as he stood, pacing the length of his office while pinching his lower lip in frustration and thought.

Angry, Wilson pushed his chair back to stand,

"Oh shut up. You know that's not true. She's afraid that you guys will have to go through a miscarriage and that scares her. She loves you, House, and I'm positive that she wants a family with you, she just never expected to make it this far."

With a sigh, House left the office and limped to his own, feeling unconvinced by Wilson's words and yet, unsure. Maybe the thought of losing a child that he fathered was fogging up all logical thought. Maybe Wilson was right, and she was choosing to not get excited as preparation for the possibility of loss.

Making his way to his desk, his cell started vibrating in his pocket. He didn't check the caller ID, assuming/hoping that it was Allison letting him know that she was in her office for them to talk. Flipping open the phone, expecting to hear her,

"House," the urgency in his voice wasn't lost on him and he rolled his eyes for being so obvious.

"Greg? Everything alright?"

House's head sank as he dropped into his chair. Allison didn't call, but Stacey did. Rubbing his hand along the front of his face to wipe away the tiredness and disappointment he answered,

"Yeah. Fine."

"I'm flying in on Friday. Do you know if you're free for dinner yet?"

He didn't know if it was a good idea, but Allison seemed to think that he should spend time with her (which clearly was a test to see if he would). It didn't matter because he didn't really want to anyway.

"Stacey, there's a lot of things going on so I probably won't be able to." He could hear the heavy sigh through the phone as he checked the hallway through the glass walls for the possibility of Allison walking by. They needed to talk.

"Are you trying to avoid me on purpose," she asked.

"I'm married-"

"Yes to Allison, I know. But don't you think that we'd be in the same situation had it not been for your leg? Greg, you have to stop punishing me for that. We deserve that much."

"I told you that I wasn't willing to do whatever it took when you worked here. Mark is."

"Mark and I are getting divorced."

"And it's a mistake," sigh, "I have a patient," and without a good bye he hung up the phone, reaching for his cane to leave and distract himself with some clinic duty.

His mind needed to be cleared for a brief moment of Allison,the thought of possibly having to see Stacey within the next few days, but mostly his wife and her decision.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: A short something before "the talk" 

Everything had been so messed up: confusing, tiring...lonely the last few days. Not only had House been avoiding Cameron at work, but he was also staying with Wilson to prolong an inevitable discussion that had the possibility of ending in a way he wasn't ready for. The situation irritated House for the simple fact that he needed to talk to Allison, but couldn't.

Couldn't face her without feeling the boom of a torpedo slam into his chest.

Couldn't battle his episodes of bitterness that stirred through him whenever he saw a family enter or exit the hospital.

Couldn't bury the unwanted emotions with alcohol.

Couldn't find the right words, but even if he could, the dryness in his throat made it impossible to articulate an actual sentence when she was nearby.

Wilson constantly reminded him that he had to go home sometime and have a real discussion about the two of them. House knew it. But actually talking about the problem wasn't something he and Allison did often. Their relationship was unique, in a sense that everything was expressed through actions.

Hugging. Kissing. Rubbing. Nodding. Touching. Gripping. Pulling. Biting. Scraping. Shoving. Thrusting. Resting. Smiling. Staring. Holding.

Whatever they felt whether it be rage, joy, sadness, worry, defeat, hunger, possession, jealousy or any other emotion that comes to mind, was left unspoken, but still clear, as if they had screamed their thoughts leaving them to echo throughout the room. It was just another thing about Cameron that he loved. The fact that with a gaze or a touch, she knew exactly what he was thinking, what he was feeling without having to say a word.

pppppppppppppp

House was sitting on the couch watching tv while Wilson was cooking something ridiculously healthy in the kitchen when the phone rang. House was prepared for dinner and already ordered a pizza half an hour ago.

"House. Answer the phone," Wilson shouted over his shoulder. Ignoring his request, House flipped through the channels, pulling out another chip and wiping the grease on the cushion.

Wilson walked into the living room, witnessing the slob bumming on his couch, "Use a damn napkin will you," he complained.

"You live alone. There's absolutely no excuse for being neat. I should demote you to my 'whipped' list," House stated with mock disappointment after tossing another chip into his mouth, using his jeans instead of the cushion to clean his slippery fingers.

Wilson frowned, "I am not whipped, but I'd prefer to not have grease stains on the furniture," he said while picking up the phone, "Hello."

House eyed him curiously when he walked back into the kitchen, speaking in hushed tones. Grabbing his cane, House limped to the entryway, listening to his whispering, but not picking up on any words. Wilson turned to lean against the counter, realizing that House was there and hung up after a 'I'll call you back if I hear anything.'

Raising an eyebrow, House gestured to the phone with his head,

"Who was that?"

"No one, just the person you've been ignoring for the past few days," Wilson stated, giving House an annoyed look, then sprinkling some seasoning into a pot.

"What did she want?"

"Go home and talk to your wife. I'm not going to keep lying for you." House glared as Wilson cleaned his hands on a dish towel when the doorbell rang,

"Who's that," asked Wilson. Smirking, House grabbed Wilson's wallet on his way to the door, giving the delivery guy a very generous tip before holding up the pizza,

"Dinner."

pppppppppppppp

That night, Cameron stayed at the office, going over some much over due paperwork that needed to get done. Wilson denied knowing where House was staying, which in Wilson language is, 'He's here and I'm trying to get his ass to grow up.'

It had been an hour since she'd called when there was a knock on her door,

"Come in." Looking up, Stacey.

"Hello Dr. Cameron."

"Allison," she held out her hand and smiled sweetly, ignoring the use of her maiden name. They didn't need to get into an argument about a name which would somehow lead to a letter. No. Allison didn't want that, didn't need that.

Taking her hand, "Of course, Allison. Nice to see you again. Is Greg still at the hospital?"

To be honest, she didn't really know where House was at the moment. She assumed he was at Wilson's, but had no confirmation when she called. There was no way in hell she was going to admit to not knowing where her husband was, bearing in mind that Stacey would push ten times harder to steal back Greg.

"He left a few hours ago with Wilson. Guys night." To avoid her stare, Cameron sorted through the papers on her desk, sensing Stacey's eyes focusing on her movements. She was like House in so many ways, always reading people, making them feel uncomfortable with her stare. Lawyers.

"Ah, I'm guessing he solved the case he was working on," Cameron nodded in agreement.

"Well, thank you. Good night, Dr. Cameron." As she walked out, Cameron pulled out a bottle of Advil, downing two with her coffee, drops dripping from her lips when the ring of her phone startled her. She looked at the caller ID before picking up. House.

"Yeah," she answered softly.

"Well don't you sound happy to talk to me," he replied strongly with a hint of offense. When she didn't respond, House sighed heavily,

"When are you coming home?"

Surprised, "You're already there?"

"I've been waiting here for a while. When are you coming home?"

Blinking away bits of shock and ignoring his irritated tone,

"I'm leaving now."

"Good," awkward pause, "Bye."

"Greg?" When there was no response, she figured he'd already hung up,

"Yeah," he replied softly. If she wasn't listening for it then she most likely wouldn't have heard it. Biting her lower lip, she felt her eyes start to burn, knowing that she was the reason for why he was distressed. Deciding that it would be best to talk face to face, she quickly changed the subject in her mind,

"Prepare yourself for a call from Stacey. I think I may have ratted you out." A small grin sneaked it's way across her face when she heard a brief chuckle from his end with a click.

She finished getting her things together, grabbed her jacket, purse, and left for home, on the way organizing then rehearsing the words she was going to say.


	10. Chapter 10

House stood, staring out the window of their home in the dark. Waiting. Shaking. Thinking. Praying to Nothing. The only light shining through from the street lamp. 

So many uncertainties and insecurities had to be laid out.

Truths that needed to revealed, and there would be no holding back.

Hurt feelings were not a concern because Cameron _needed_ to understand, _needed_ to know what he was feeling.

House leaned heavily on his cane, sweating from anxiety, head resting on the cool window to relieve some of the warmth that was rippling through his body.

It was silent in the living room, and it reminded House of those nights before Cameron. This is what he would come home to; this used to be a typical night: Piano, scotch, vicodin, occasional porn, pointless television viewing, and the lifeless dent in his thigh to keep him company.

Closing his eyes at the memory, he sighed, upper body sinking slightly in remembrance. After the last few years, there was no way in hell he could go back to that and survive.

No way. If he wasn't broken before, he would definitely be shattered then.

House was startled at the sudden humming from the fridge, and the splash of a puddle when a car drove by. Eyes snapping open, expecting Cameron, only to see the car continue pass the stop sign at the corner. He leaned into the window again, focusing on the ground.

Waiting.

When he heard a car door slam shut, he looked up and saw Cameron approaching the front door...slowly. Standing in place, still not bothering to turn on a light, he continued to face the window, not really seeing the outside, but rather picturing different scenarios for how the rest of the night could pan out.

He saw her with a packed bag, accelerating in reverse down the driveway, and speeding off.

He saw her laugh in his face, openly admitting to not loving him.

He saw her gently tear him apart with kind words, kissing him on the cheek, and barely closing the door behind her.

He saw her reassure him, hug him, and lead him by the hand to their room.

Several thoughts. Many negative. Only one positive. He believed in facts, numbers, statistics, and knew the odds of which he was facing.

Cameron opened the door and instantly saw House, a light shade of blue and white reflecting off the side of his face, growing faint when he turned to look at her briefly to acknowledge her presence, a not-so-encouraging welcome.

Dropping her things on the ground, also not troubling with the light switch, she walked over to him, arms crossed in front of her chest, and staring at his cane as she moved towards him.

By the time she stood at his side (not too close), he was still gazing straight ahead, what Cameron figured to look at the rain from minutes ago sliding down the glass.

Her lips tightening, House finally spoke up,

"I don't know where to start," he admitted with a shrug.

"We could start with why you've decided to ignore me and stay with Wilson," she suggested softly. Lifting his eyebrow, still not looking at her, she answered his unspoken question,

"He didn't tell me, but where else would you go," she half-joked. She was trying to make light of the situation, but House gave a short, quick nod, brows pinching together. Clearly he wasn't in the mood.

Still staring out the window, "It's kind of hard to be around someone who claims to be your wife and then openly admits to not wanting your kid," he said sternly, almost dangerously.

Cameron's mouth opened slightly in shock, but quickly closed, hands rubbing along her arms at the sudden chill of discomfort,

"I never said that, Greg," she said firmly, voice deeper in disbelief.

"Not directly, but it's what you meant."

Hands on her hips, she glared, eyes misty with fury and snapped,

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I came back pretending to want things to work out but really I just wanted to get pregnant so I could tell you that I want out of this."

"Glad we agree," he said bitterly, glancing at her quickly as he said it before turning back.

He couldn't stop himself from sounding resentful, from expressing his total anger. He could bite his tongue to fight back his retorts hard enough to draw blood, but the same exact words would still escape. It's what he was feeling and she had to know.

"You unbelievable bastard. You're honestly going to stand there and say that I am that shallow. Aren't you supposed to know me, House," cringing at his last name, she didn't seem to notice, "Oh wait, maybe not considering you didn't see this one coming," she said sarcastically.

Something in him snapped, unleashed and he spun around swiftly, goose bumps rising along her skin at the intensity of his gaze,

"What am I supposed to think? You tell me you're pregnant, then say you don't know if you want it. And then, you tell me a story about how badly you wanted a baby with your first husband, but couldn't. Hmm, I wonder why I think what I do," and with the last word said, his attention turned to the outside again.

Cameron closed her eyes as she exhaled, chin to her chest while pinching the bridge of her nose, trying with difficulty to hold back unnecessary tears. It had never occurred to her that House had gotten the impression that he did, and her stomach churned and her chest constricted at the idea. But the thought of him actually thinking of her that way somehow made her angry.

"That's not what I meant at all, Greg. You should know that. I was scared of losing our baby. Scared that you'd blame me if that happened. Scared of-"

Knowing it would make her furious, "Having to be stuck with me," he interrupted. It was stupid, but it was something that he felt he needed to hear her deny.

"What the hell do you think of me Greg? I'm curious because the past ten minutes hasn't really shown me that you know me well enough to be my husband," she bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, willing for time to go back a few seconds to retract those last couple of words.

He was suddenly facing her again and raised his voice, acting nonchalant,

"Fine. Why don't you just do what you want? No one's stopping you," he gestured toward the door, "Seriously, go ahead. Kill the kid," and limped to the door, opening it before feeling a hand on his shoulder, willing him to stay.

"Turn around and look at me." Hesitating, he did as she asked, "I'm scared of you leaving if our baby doesn't make it. I want a baby with you, but I'm afraid of getting excited, planning everything only to have it leave us," she stated softly, continuing, "And I am stuck with you, but it's a good thing," she smiled.

Their eyes still locked together, focusing, reading, and understanding.

House hadn't said a word, expression blank, and Cameron was having a hard time figuring out what was happening, what he was thinking. Did he believe her? Is he going to leave? Is it over?

His hand circled her wrist, pulling her out her thoughts and against him into an embrace as he leaned in to rest his chin on her shoulder.

"We good," he asked and Cameron couldn't hold back a quick laugh at the simplicity of his question.

"Depends, are you still going to be an ass? Ignoring me and thinking I don't-"

"Yeahyeahyeah," he said while standing up straighter, "You're happy my sperm made a kid."

Slapping his arm, "Not funny," she tried to be angry, but could only fake it because the night hadn't turned out as bad as she imagined.

"I know."

"You're an ass."

"Yes I am," shifting a bit, switching the weight from his right leg to his left, "I'm sorry," he finally said quietly. When she didn't say anything, he maneuvered around her to the couch and sat down, looking over his shoulder while patting the cushion next to him.

"I have another appointment tomorrow," she said while sitting down, twisting and tangling her fingers anxiously before House cupped both her hands with one of his. When she looked over, he nodded his head signaling for her to keep going,

"Do you wanna go?"

Smiling, "What time?"


	11. Chapter 11

Flipping through a magazine while sitting in a waiting room, House was constantly checking his watch, counting down the minutes until it was time for Allison to see the doctor. Juggling air between his cheeks, wiping his hands on his pants to dry sweaty palms, glancing over at Allison occasionally, clearly overwhelmed with anxiety; he needed something to settle down. 

As a distraction, he observed the other people in the waiting room, silently categorizing and forming their story based on clothing or interactions with the others around them.

Across the room, a woman in her early thirty's, middle-class, squeezed the hand of who he assumed to be her husband, biting her lower lip, but smiling none the less. This was their first child.

By the window, a girl in her teens sat alone with her head bowed down, hair greasy and fairly tangled, wearing a large hoody while fidgeting with the loose thread on her jeans, wrapping it tightly around her finger. Abortion.

Another woman was lecturing her children between clenched teeth to behave and play with their toys quietly. She was the experienced one. The husband was nowhere to be found, probably busy running his company to get the big bucks, after seeing the diamond bracelet and earrings she was wearing.

Then his focus turned to the two boys fighting over their Lego's in the middle of the room. Studying their behavior, the way they disregarded their mother's demand at hushed tones, arguing about where the wheels needed to be placed in order to make their 'world dominating truck,' or so they called it. House always found kids to be fascinating with all their innocence and ignorance.

His attention turned to the daughter that he hadn't noticed before sitting next to her mom, coloring in her book, feet swaying from the height of the chair. She was much different from her brothers: calm, quiet, innocent, and hopeful. A Lego tossed at her chest tore her away from her reverie as she looked up to see her brothers pointing and laughing on the ground. Picking up the thrown Lego and a white crayon (smart girl) she chucked both at her brothers, one getting hit in the temple while the crayon connected between the eyes.

'That a girl,' House thought. Reaching out, he grabbed Cameron's hand, squeezing gently, thinking to himself that he would like a little girl of his own.

"Your hand is sweaty. Nervous," she asked with a smile.

"No. It's hot in here," he replied bluntly, giving her a look that answered the question with honesty.

Unlacing their fingers, he scanned through another magazine, checking his watch until,

"Allison House," a nurse called out.

"Here," she said.

House threw the magazine onto the table, watching it slide onto the floor, while Cameron seized his hand to rise with her and follow the nurse. Instantly, he noticed that Cameron's shoulders were tense, obviously as nervous as he was at the possibility of something being wrong, but still trying to be optimistic.

When they walked into the exam room, a nurse handed her a cup,

"There's a bathroom around the corner," she smiled sweetly and gestured to her left. Cameron took a deep breath, smiling back, and then headed in the direction the nurse had shown.

House took in his surroundings, the designed wallpaper of bottles, blankets, rattles, and pacifiers, the exam table, only stopping when he realized how ridiculous it seemed. He was a doctor and acting as if he had no idea what was going on, like he had never experienced something such as this before. Well...not personally, but it felt as if all medical training, all knowledge drained away because, now, he was the patient's husband...the father.

When Cameron walked back in, she gave the cup to the nurse, taking a seat on the exam table, waiting patiently. The nurse left the room with a 'I'll be right back,' after she handed a gown for her to change into.

House couldn't fight a slight smile at the oblivious expression on his wife's face. It was almost amusing to think that she was acting the same way he was not too long ago: curious, excited, but unsure. His smile grew even bigger as she stripped to put on the gown, sitting back down on the exam table. When her fingers dug into the leather cushion as she rocked back and forth, he frowned,

"Come here."

Head snapping up, she jumped down to settle herself on his good thigh, stretching her legs across his lap to rest on the chair beside them.

He couldn't lie, but Cameron sitting in his lap with his hand gliding from ass to thigh was definitely arousing, causing him to shift in his seat,

"Are you alright," she asked concerned, unwrapping her arms from around his neck to rest on his shoulders.

"I'm fine."

"If I'm hurting you I can-"

"Allison, I'm fine." Lips tightening, she went back to her original position as did he and said,

"I was just thinking about what we could do when we get home."

Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door, and the doctor walked in. Cameron swung her legs over to stand, mindful of his bed leg.

"Hello again Allison," they shook hands and Cameron went to sit on the exam table while House stood to shake the doctor's hand,

"You must be the husband," he replied with a nod, "I'm Doctor Murray," she said then turning to Cameron.

"Now last time, you just came to confirm if you were pregnant and that's all we did correct?"

"Yes," Cameron said with a nod, her nerves causing her to shake internally.

"Okay and I see you are only four weeks pregnant."

"I know it's early, but...I've tried before to get pregnant and was told that I...couldn't." It was almost a whisper, a soft, gentle, painful whisper.

"I understand," Dr. Murray said while looking through her chart, "You're a doctor?"

"Yeah at Princeton Plainsboro."

"Well, you probably already know the routine," House and Cameron both nodded, "I'm going to have some blood tests run, check to see that the urine sample shows no signs of infection, but first I would like to do a Pap smear," she turned to House, "Would you like to stay in here or leave?"

Winking at Cameron, both knowing that what he meant by it because of his earlier comment. The doctor smiled and repeated her question, clearly aware of what Allison's husband was referring to.

"I can handle staying in here. Nothing I haven't seen before," House said with a shrug, tongue in his cheek as he grinned.

"House!" Cameron covered her face in embarrassment, cheeks red, but couldn't help the subtle smirk that crept across her face.

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On the ride back, Cameron was looking through the pamphlets from Dr. Murray that went over couples and pregnancy, what to expect, what's normal...the works.

"I don't know why people even bother making those, let alone read them."

"What's wrong with the pamphlet," Cameron asked offended.

"They're telling you to talk about the pregnancy, share your concerns as if I'm just going to say, 'It was great knocking you up, see you in nine months' It's stupid," he shrugged, turning into the driveway.

"Just because you think you know everything doesn't make this pamphlet any less effective or stupid as you so kindly put it." She threw the pamphlet onto the dashboard, massaging the side of her head before getting out of the car.

House rolled his eyes, mouthing 'Great' to nobody in particular.

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Opening the door, Cameron sat on the couch and turned on the tv, with out saying a word to him. He limped over, nudging her shoulder to get her to scoot over.

He liked to sit on the right side and she was in his space.

"There's the entire couch for you," she replied without looking up at him.

"When do I not sit on the right side," the look she gave made him add, "Not when you're facing the couch."

A switch of the channel and a cold shoulder later, he sighed and went to the kitchen, pulling off take-out menus from the fridge then carrying them into the living room, realizing that Cameron had moved to the other side of the couch.

"Soo. You obviously want to be a bully tonight."

He placed the menus on the coffee table for them to look at then taking his seat. He was taunting her, she knew it, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Don't tempt me," reaching for her arm, bringing her between his legs, back against chest. He started rubbing along her upper arms, moving to massage her shoulders before he bumped the side of her face with his cheek to tilt her head.

His tongue trailed along the side of neck, going back to give open mouth kisses along the path he had just traced earlier.

The tightness in his jeans became even tighter when a moan reached his ears, her hands running along his thighs.

One hand sliding down her side, lifting her shirt to reveal her stomach as he protectively flattened his hand, caressing gently in circles while his thumb caressed her cheek with the other.

Soon he slid his hands even further down to grip her waist, tugging her backwards against him to press his hard-on against her back over and over until she scooted forward away from him.

Wagging her finger at him,

"No, you were being a jerk in the car."

Reaching for her arm again, she stood, taking a step back. House dropped his arm with a sigh and as bluntly and deprivingly sounding as he could,

"Don't be mean and make me cum," she crossed her arms in front of her chest, raising an eyebrow,

"Well that's sweet, but I'd suggest you use the bathroom around the corner."

"Tease," he complained while rising with his cane heading in the direction of the bathroom. When the door closed, she shouted,

"What do you want for dinner?!"


	12. Chapter 12

_Cameron was lying in the hospital bed, sweating, screaming, bleeding, blaming House for what has happened to them. Their baby had died, choked from the umbilical cord. There was nothing to be done to calm her down, and the doctors couldn't get close enough to Cameron to stop the bleeding. The yelling, heat of the room, and objects tossed in their direction kept them near the door. House tried to get closer to Cameron, but she kept screaming for him to stay away, to not touch because he was the reason their baby was dead. He was supposed to deliver the baby sooner, should've been gentler, more careful, but instead he rushed and strangled their child. Tears coated her cheeks and moans of agony echoed throughout the room while the bleeding continued with no signs of stopping. House begged to get close, apologizing, and pleading. Denying him, she claimed that she wanted to die too so he had to choose between living without her alive or dead._

House's eyes snapped open, sweat beading down his temple as he gasped for air, reaching to the warm empty space on the side of the bed. Closing his eyes while wiping the panic away with the back of his hand, he tried to regain control of his breathing before Cameron came into the room.

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'Morning sickness is a bitch,' Cameron thought with her head in the toilet, hair held back by a band, flushing while rising to her feet and slowly making her way to the sink. Splashing water onto her face, she looked in the mirror, groaning at the image that greeted her: Face pale, eyes dark, and brown curls an utter mess.

House had helped out for three episodes of morning sickness, holding her hair back, dabbing the back of her neck and forehead with a cool wash cloth before he realized that it disturbed his sleep routine. Once he was up, Cameron would have him get breakfast together while she took a shower, then make coffee while he took his. As a result, House was rewarded with six extra hours of clinic for sleeping in the exam rooms.

Now when Cameron felt the waves of nausea come, she'd run to the bathroom while House buried his head under the pillow to drown out the sounds of ew to get another hour or two of sleep before having to get up.

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It had been a slow week at work after saving their last patient, and Cuddy recently started getting on House's ass again about having to hire another fellow.

"You better start your interviews by Monday or I'm doubling your clinic duty for next week," Cuddy said as she slapped a few folders of applicants onto his desk.

"No thanks. I'm good with Foreman and Chase," House said bluntly while focusing on his game boy, dismissing the dean of medicine with the swerve of his chair.

"You're going to do it or I will hire one for you," she threatened. House switched off his game, staring pensively at the ceiling before turning to face her with a smirk,

"Go ahead. Just make sure they're qualified otherwise they'll end up quitting on the first day."

"I've been lenient and let you off for months about hiring another fellow."

"Right because you're so thoughtful."

Tongue in cheek, Cuddy crossed her arms,

"I was being your friend since you were going through a divorce and now I'm your boss."

"Really? You'd think that with those tight skirts and low-cut shirts you'd be the entertainment in the lounge," shrugging, "Oh right that's just Tuesday's."

"Monday or more clinic duty. It's your choice." A turn with the click of her heels and she was on her way to, House could only assume, Cameron.

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The past couple of weeks had been difficult for House to say the least. Being near Cameron brought images of the nightmares to surface, carrying with it tension and doubts. These were the times when he struggled for air, heart rate would rise, and his stomach would churn at the unwelcome thoughts of Cameron and their child.

At first, House was always there, helping Cameron in the morning, carrying her things, and waiting up for her after work. Once the nightmares became frequent and intense, House couldn't stand to get too close for fear of doing something wrong. Cameron sensed that there was a problem; he knew it, but would he really tell her if she asked?

Tossing the applicant folders into the trash, House leaned back in his chair, feet on the desk, and turning on his stereo as a distraction from the unpleasant thoughts.

_While holding their newborn, Cameron came into the nursery, kissing House on the cheek and suggesting that they go out for a walk. Placing the baby into the stroller, House's leg started to throb and after a few strokes along his thigh, he ignored the pain, wanting to spend the afternoon with his family. After much conversation, he realized that they were miles away from their home and his limp was suddenly growing more and more apparent with every step, slowing him down as Cameron kept on pushing. The distance between the two of them extended one pavement block after another. Calling out Cameron's name to wait, she turned slowly, flipping her hair, 'I guess you can't be a good father with a bad leg.' The aching in his thigh was more fierce and every second that passed with her gaze locked on his crouched form made the pain elevate to the point where it was unbearable. Lying on the sidewalk, he watched as Cameron pushed the stroller, leaving him behind. One last time, he called her name and she didn't even bother turning around, but shouted, 'You'll mess this up.' Yelling, rubbing his leg..._

"Greg, wake up." Jumping in his seat, still massaging the dent in his thigh, he slowly grabbed the bottle of vicodin and swallowed two, closing his eyes while sighing in appreciation.

"Greg you're sweating." Cameron ran her fingers to push back the damp strands of hair stuck to his forehead away as House tried to enjoy her touch. It was no use. The images he saw, the feelings he felt were too real, and it seemed contact wasn't enough to shove it aside.

Opening his eyes, he stared at Cameron, concern shooting out of her own eyes with silent questions and pleas of explanations. As he stood, he squeezed Cameron's hand,

"We need to go home," he said heading for the door, still keeping a firm grip on her hand so she couldn't get away.

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The drive back was silent and both opened their windows, blocking out all sound with the wind that blew loudly into their ears. Cameron side glanced at House occasionally, debating in her mind whether to ask what was the matter, but trusted that he would be explaining soon.

Just after shutting the front door, House dropped his cane, limping into the bedroom and pulling off his shirt on the way.

"What are you doing," she asked curiously and uncertain at the same time.

"Bedroom. Take your clothes off now too," he replied as he stepped through the doorway with out looking back.

The tone in his voice was distant, but whatever was going on she chose not to fight it and took of her shoes, shrugging off her jacket and pulling her t-shirt over her head. She could hear the metal clink of his belt and the sound of his zipper when she neared their room, unbuttoning her pants as she walked in.

House was standing on the side of the bed in his boxers facing her, gesturing at her pants,

"Get rid of those and come here," pulling down his boxers, he lay on his back watching as she slid pants and thong at the same time down her legs, kicking them to the side. Something about this made it exciting and nerve racking all at once, and she whimpered when she saw him staring at her through narrowed black eyes.

Feeling the heat between her legs increase and the goose bumps form along her body in anticipation, she slowly made her way to the foot of the bed, kneeling then crawling to his side.

Hearing the growl in his chest made her reach out, tugging him against her for a kiss, pushing her tongue inside his mouth, tasting, relishing, loving the warmth and sensations a kiss from Greg House still made her feel.

Gripping her thigh, House forced her to straddle his lap as he traced circles with his palms on her hips, sucking her neck and nipping along her collarbone.

With her head tilted back, Cameron could hear nothing but the scratch of his stubble along her skin, the sound of his panting on her chest, and the creak of the springs on their bed. She could feel the heat of each breath, and the shocks of desire that rippled to her core when his mouth surrounded her nipple, using the tip of his tongue to flick and harden.

Grinding together, she felt his cock rubbing against her thigh, the pressure between her legs building with every use of his tongue or the feel of his fingers digging into some part of her body, branding and claiming with his unshaven cheeks.

House pulled back to watch her as he used his thumb against her clit, circling and pinching, while his other hand cupped and occasionally squeezed her breasts.

Taking his hand away, he lifted her up, bringing her back down instantly onto his waiting cock, thrusting into her again and again. He couldn't wait for her to adjust or to work a rhythm and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist as he pushed himself deeper inside her slick folds, pace increasing with every movement.

Sweat appeared along her forehead and across her chest. House didn't see her bouncing on top of him, he saw her in the hospital bed screaming at her loss, for him to leave, wishing she was dead along with their baby.

Holding on tighter, he drove faster inside her, squeezing his eyes shut to focus on the sensation her warmth had on his shaft.

But it didn't work, her moans reminded him of her pain as she cried for their child. There was no escaping the images. He was trying to feel close to Cameron again, reassured that they were just nightmares, but he had to do that in his own way.

This was it, and it wasn't working.

"Faster," she pleaded, "I'm...so close."

As she asked he quickened his thrusts, but it reminded him of their walk. Cameron further away from him, pushing their baby, telling him he couldn't keep up because of his leg.

His nails dug into her sides, her fingers gripped chunks of his hair. Her muscles clenched, his cock twitched, both about to come. He slid the back of his hand across her stomach before pressing and rubbing her clit with his thumb again.

It didn't take much more and she cried out his name, biting into his shoulder. Still rubbing the sensitive spot so that she experienced the full-orgasm, he kept moving harder, pushing down on her hips to slam inside her until his body shuddered and he came inside her.

As they lay side by side, Cameron cradled against him, resting her left leg across his, and her hand on his chest. Looking down, House worried that something was going to go wrong, and he would be the cause.

This hadn't lessened his fears and he stayed up for as long as he could to avoid another nightmare that was surely awaiting him.


	13. Chapter 13

How is it possible to feel lonely when you're not alone? Why push people away you care about and who care about you? Why can't people just talk about their problems with those they adore? 

House was asking himself these questions over and over in his mind. Why couldn't he get reassurance from Cameron through words? Why was he distancing himself?

Possible answer(s):

1) **FEAR.** Doing something wrong. Hurting Cameron and the baby. Not being able to be there the way he should.

2) Feeling **WORTHLESS**. His bad leg holding him back from being able to spend time with his new family.

3) **DOUBTS**. That Cameron will grow tired of everything and come to the realization that he isn't the type of man to be a father. Maybe Cameron will get worn-out from having to do more work because of his limp.

But what are the odds of that being true, of those concerns even worth being mentioned? House knew that Cameron loved him, wanted this baby, so why was it that he couldn't fulfill this empty feeling that made him nauseous? There were no amount of words to describe the confusion he had been experiencing the past few weeks.

It was only a matter of time before Cameron had enough, demanding to know what was the matter, but until that time came, House was going to deal with the struggles on his own. Cameron didn't need that kind of stress, but honestly, by staying away he's unintentionally putting stress on her anyway isn't he?

Rubbing his hand down the front of his face, House pulled out a long forgotten bottle of scotch from under his desk and poured himself a full glass, gulping it down with a vicodin, wincing at the bitter taste of defeat before going home.

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Around three in the morning, House felt something pushing against his shoulder, then reaching lower to pinch his side. Growling, he swatted at whatever it was, half-asleep until he heard Cameron's voice,

"Greg, wake up," she whispered into his ear, still shaking him but more gently.

His words were muffled by the pillow that covered his head,

"I'm sleeping."

"I want some cookies with sweet and sour sauce." He threw the pillow to the end of the bed then looked over his shoulder at his wife,

"Are you kidding me," he asked disgusted.

"It sounds good," she shrugged innocently as if that was a typical American snack and added, "Could you get some chocolate ice cream? We already have apples right?"

"Allison. It's passed three and we both have work, can't you sleep through it?"

"Do you really want me to answer that or can I just glare at you?" A roll of the eyes and a smirk later, House pulled the covers off and grabbed his cane to pick up Cameron's 'craving.'

There was only one grocery store House could think of that was open in Princeton. He just hoped that they'd have the sweet and sour sauce she wanted. 'Sweet and sour sauce with cookies?' Just the thought made him cringe.

When House walked into their bedroom with all the snacks, Cameron was sitting with her back against the headboard watching re-runs of the original CSI.

"Did you get everything," she asked hopeful, turning off the tv.

"Yeah," he started pulling the items out of the bag and handing them to her, "Your ice cream, sauce, cookies, and these apples were in the fridge."

"Thanks," before she could ask, he gave her a spoon. As House got situated beside her on the bed, she stated,

"Tomorrow at two I have another appointment with Dr. Murray. I think you should come with."

Groaning, he stared at the ceiling debating if he should actually go with her or not,

"I went last time," he said frankly, shifting to his side to turn off the lamp.

"What has gotten into you? For the past week you've been acting strange," 'three weeks' House thought to himself as Cameron continued, "Just tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing. I'll go," he said nonchalantly and closed his eyes as a dismissal of the conversation.

Cameron stared and studied, eyebrows scrunched in contemplation, trying to figure out what had happened recently to make him act so...distant? Unhappy? The only logical conclusion was the pregnancy, but he was looking forward to it, wanted it the last time she checked. With a heavy sigh, she dipped a few more cookies into her sauce, tossing the rest into the trash next to the bed before falling asleep.

_As House sat in his office, light from the desk lamp reflecting across his face, he heard soft laughter coming from the conference room. Grabbing his cane, he opened the connecting door to see Cameron's arms wrapped around Chase's neck laughing and smiling as Chase held their baby between them. Cameron rested her head on his shoulder, finally looking at House. Rising on her toes, her eyes never leaving his, she whispered something into Chase's ear which made him turn around. House took a few strides towards them when Cameron placed her hand on his chest, "If you can't be there for me, then I need to be with someone who can." Reaching out for his child, Chase quickly turned away and walked out the conference room door, Cameron following after. Falling to his knees, ignoring the pain in his thigh, House watched as his child was carried away by her new daddy._

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At work, they finally had another case. Hopefully this would serve as a distraction adding with it a few sleepless nights to figure out the correct diagnosis. Foreman, Chase, and House were in the conference room, House writing the symptoms on the whiteboard, snarking and debating when Cameron walked in, hands on her hips.

"Patient," House said plainly, staring down at the marker as he snapped the cap back on.

"Appointment. You agreed to go with me last night."

"Didn't have a patient last night," he said tapping his cane, squeezing his lips together inside his mouth to mask his nerves and appear casual.

Chase chose to chime in at that moment,

"We can take over for now while you're gone," he suggested. House's eyes narrowed as his head bowed down, trying to kill Chase on the spot with a single glare. 'Of course he'd want to step in. He probably wishes that he was the one who got Cameron pregnant,' House thought to himself.

"You **would** try to make _my_ wife believe that you're sensitive and concerned," House barked with a scornful look on his face.

"Greg," Cameron started, and House noticed the side of Chase's lip twitch at the sound of his first name, "What is-"

Interrupting, House was still eyeing Chase dangerously,

"What did she not call you Robert when you two were together?"

"Greg stop it!" Cameron warned and pleaded at the same time.

"Jealous?" House wasn't going to let it go. He could feel the fury inside him grow, and the fuel came by the ton with every jerk of discomfort that was shown through Chase's facial expressions and body language. Foreman chose that moment to step in,

"Chase and I are going to do an MRI. We'll page you if there's anything," he said while gripping Chase's elbow to have him rise and head for the door with him.

House followed their path down the hall, almost forgetting that Cameron was in the room until he heard the door opening again and turning his head to see her walking down the hallway.

"Allison!" House swung the door open and with longer strides than usual, he caught up to her at the elevator.

"I don't know what your problem is, but you better figure it out. I'm leaving." Walking into the elevator, House held the doors open with outstretched arms,

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Silently he prayed to who or whatever that his nightmares weren't coming true already.

"My appointment that you said you'd go to, but are apparently too busy with a patient to do so," she said sternly, holding his stare with the intensity to match his own, "I'm going to be late so move back."

He did as she asked,

"I can still go with you," he replied quietly and regretfully.

"Go deal with your patient," and the elevator doors closed as he watched her while she stared at the number above the doors.

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Cameron sat on the exam table, lips tightened with a frown as she wished for House to be there too. She pictured him sitting on the chair against the wall with his gameboy, capturing air in his cheeks as his mouth scrunched to the side. She wanted him there, but it seemed best that he stayed behind.

There was a knock on the door and the doctor walked in,

"Hello Allison. How is everything going so far," Dr. Murray smiled as she took a seat on the stool.

"The pregnancy seems fine so far. No pain, just the morning sickness and weird cravings," she joked.

"Ah, yes the cravings. Morning sickness is always fun isn't it?" Cameron let out a short laugh.

"Well you are now seven weeks pregnant so let's start out with the easy stuff...eating habits."

Cameron smiled and said,

"Not to sound rude, but I got that part down," she joked matter-of-factly.

"Oh yes, I forgot. Doctor," Dr. Murray nodded.

By the end of the appointment, after examinations and blood tests, Dr. Murray took a seat once more on the stool and asked,

"Is there anything you would like to talk about? Any concerns you may have about the pregnancy?"

"No," hesitating, "My husband has been acting strange lately, and he wanted to have a baby."

"It's normal for the father to worry whether it's fear of hurting you or the baby if they touch you, always making sure you're comfortable-"

"I know, but he's never mind. Thank you, Dr. Murray," Cameron stood to shake the doctor's hand and on her way out,

"Just keep talking to Mr. House about everything."

"Right," she said with a quick nod and left.

On the way home, Cameron thought about the way things had been going recently. The sudden outburst at Chase was shocking (she didn't know that he still thought about that), the way he seemed needy and clingy during sex the other night, waking him up in his office with sweat across his face. If he was so worried about everything then why wasn't he just saying it? Why was he silently pushing her away?

There were moments when things were good, but the sudden shift in his behavior was unsettling, and she needed to figure out the cause otherwise things were not going to end up too well for them.


	14. Chapter 14

Cameron came home from the appointment with dinner in hand, greeted by a pitch-black empty space, and a cool breeze from the ceiling fan hitting her face. Her body shivered as hair stood, tickling the back of her neck while turning on the light. Something felt uncomfortably...eerie the moment she walked through door. 

Scanning the room, it seemed that House hadn't been there yet, but she checked anyway. No chip bags sitting out in the kitchen, tv guide and controller were in their proper place, the bed was still made, vicodin bottle wasn't resting on a side table, and his leather jacket was not on the rack.

She called House's cell, still looking around their home, but finding nothing. No note and no sign that he had been there. After several rings, several tries, and no answer, she called Wilson.

"Hi Allison," he sounded tired.

"Is Greg with you?"

"He left a little over an hour ago," pause, "Are you alright?"

She didn't want to worry him and convinced herself that he was riding his bike to settle down,

"Yeah, fine. He isn't here and hasn't called me yet. It's probably the pregnancy that has me a bit on edge," she joked in hopes to calm herself down as well as attempting to not bother Wilson with possible pointless concerns.

"If I hear from him I'll give you a call," he finally said, confident that that would be enough.

She didn't say goodbye before hanging up.

Biting the nail of her thumb, she tossed her phone onto the couch as she took a seat. She flipped through the channels as a distraction from the time, but it was no use. The shows watched she knew were a half hour long, and she went through two episodes.

There wasn't any work that needed to be done because she made sure it was finished before going to see Dr. Murray. Dinner didn't need to be made because one: they didn't have any food and two: she brought Chinese. Heating it up would only take up a minute or two, but again, it was something to pass the time and she needed to pass the time.

If this were a movie, it'd be the scene where the tick tock of the clock would play in the background as the person waiting is shown lying from position to position, or pacing back and forth, or picking non-existent lint from their shirt.

Cameron had done it all. Switching positions after the ache from the previous was too much. Pacing from the window to the couch, turning back every so often to make sure the phone was still in the same place. Massaging her head, tossing a ball from hand to hand, wrapping a piece of thread from the hem of her sweater around her fingers, and constantly checking the time until she unwillingly fell asleep.

ppppppppppppppppppppppppp

With the pillow tucked under her head on the couch, Cameron awoke to the roar of an engine outside. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the window, hoping that it would be House and pulled the curtains aside. Lips pressed together and arms folded, she eyed her husband struggling to get off his bike, stumbling and cursing on his way to the door, catching himself with the outstretch of an arm on the side of the house.

He was drunk.

_AND_ he drove...no he _rode _back. On his motorcycle. At night. Drunk.

Cameron moved quickly to the door and the second he walked in, she slapped him across the face, palm burning a bit from the scrape of his cheek.

The force of her hand connecting with his face sent him backwards, smacking the side of his head and shoulder due to his lack of balance. As he slammed into the door, a snort of laughter escaped as his hand rubbed his cheek, still not saying a word and not looking up to meet her furious gaze.

"Where did you go?" She wanted to yell, but somehow the rage she felt inside could not reflect in her voice, but her eyes were saying everything.

"Where did you go," she repeated impatiently.

"A bar," he said while pushing himself with his shoulder off the wall, tripping into her as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"How much did you have?" Her voice was much more stern than before as she tried keeping him on his feet.

His forehead rested on her shoulder then slowly turned so that his face was pressed against the side of her neck,

"You smell so good Allison," his words muffled and slurred while his hand gripped the back of her sweater, tugging her against him as his other hand pulled at it to reveal the skin of her shoulder.

As his head lowered for a kiss, Cameron pushed him back gently, allowing him to lean against the door while trying to release his grasp around her waist.

"You're drunk," her head cocked to the side, but her voice was still firm. The smirk on his face infuriated her as he reached out to grab her,

"You're beautiful," he said in an 'obviously' tone, almost falling when she stepped back from his attempt at seizing her arm. This wasn't right, and she was going to find out why the hell he didn't call, why he went to a bar, why he felt he needed to drink so much that he couldn't even stand up or speak properly, and why he had a bruising cut on the side of his mouth.

When Cameron moved away, House's eyes narrowed, brows coming together in confusion and drunken frustration. The look on his face reminded her of those when he was trying to solve a case, but uncertain as he worked to put the puzzle pieces together.

"Right. So it...fffinally begins," he said in anger, his arms obnoxiously gesturing his discovery, "You realized that you're...too good fer this."

"What the hell are you talking about, Greg?"

Taking a step towards her, he quickly reached for her arm once more, jerking her body against his causing her to gasp from shock as he slowly made her walk backwards to where Cameron could only guess as his fingers dug to the point where she was convinced there would be bruises.

They struggled on their way to the couch since his balance was practically gone, and she trying to keep most of his weight off so as not to crush her tiny frame. Cameron never broke the contact she made from his blood-shot eyes, and couldn't release herself from his tight hold, basically forced to go wherever he was leading her.

Before she opened her mouth to speak, the back of her knees hit the front of the couch and a small shove from him sent her to a sitting position.

Grabbing her shoulders and using his strength to make her lie down before him, ignoring the resistance, he spread her legs with his knee so that he could rest between her thighs.

As he leaned down, she could smell the intense stench of alcohol increase as his face came closer to her own, her nose wrinkling in disgust. His tongue licked a trail down her jaw while he pressed his erection against her heat.

The kisses on her neck were sloppy and wet, and the weight of his body on hers was painful, irritating, anything besides arousing.

His beard scratched her cheek as he rose a bit to look at her, his finger tips tracing along her collarbone with a smug expression that was definitely unattractive at that moment. He seemed to believe she was enjoying it, and apparently he was since she could feel his hard cock press into her again and again.

When she had enough, she pushed against his chest to shove him back, but he took hold of her wrists with one hand, placing them over her head.

Slipping his other hand under her shirt, he skimmed his fingers across her stomach, flattening his hand as it slid up to cup one of her breasts.

Cameron was getting nothing out of this. She was angry, confused, worried, but mostly disappointed and seeing him this way only made the experience even worse.

"Greg. Stop."

He thrust into her faster and more powerful than before. Every time caused her body to scooch upward until her head hit the armrest of the couch.

"Stop!"

"So it's true," he slurred then bent down, biting her lower lip, almost drawing blood as he pulled it with him. He sucked and nipped, never fully kissing her lips, but forcing his tongue between hers to suck her tongue into his mouth.

There was no passion...just a sloppy, one-sided drunken mess, and she couldn't handle much more of it.

When she heard the metal sound of his belt, signaling its freedom, she pounded her fists against his chest. He didn't stop, then she heard the sound of his zipper in the background of his groans. It wasn't going to be like this, and she pressed her thumb against the side of his mouth which made him spring back in pain.

"What the fuck!?" He shouted, glaring and covering his mouth with his hand.

"Why are you acting like this," she asked while rising to a sitting position.

"So I can't have sex with my wife now," he asked dangerously.

"No. You can't get drunk, **drive **back, not call me, and expect me to be okay with it! Something is wrong, and I'm sick of trying to figure out what it is!"

Swatting his hand away at his attempt to grab her, he dropped his arm, trying to stand but falling back into the couch.

"What is going on," she demanded, her eyes flashing with anger.

With his hand, he tried to erase the exhaustion from his face, and working to keep his thoughts together. This was it, this was his chance to confess his fears and describe the nightmares.

He came home completely drunk because of it and Cameron deserved an explanation.


	15. Chapter 15

House's words were too slurred for Cameron to understand anything he said or even take seriously. She wasn't really sure if _he_ knew what he was trying to explain. After a sentence or two, Cameron gave up and lead House to the room so he could sleep through his drunkenness and talk the next morning. 

She left a large glass of water on the side table along with his pills then left for the living room to spend the night on the couch. There was no way she would be able to sleep with House right next to her without the constant reminder of his unusual behavior.

The next morning Cameron woke up to a stiff back, a sore neck, and the wonders of morning sickness. Half-rolling off the couch, she wrapped herself in a blanket as she quickly made her way into the bathroom.

The hair tie she always left on the counter wasn't there, and she hovered over the toilet, trying to hold her hair back at the same time. 'Pain in the ass,' she thought to herself.

Without warning, no flicker or sound, the bathroom went dark and she gasped in response. As she was about to stand, she felt a hand gently grip her hair, releasing her hold while another began to rub in soothing circles on her back.

No words of thanks could be expressed once the nausea decided to take over. And take over it did.

The sound of running water reached her ears in the darkness which was soon followed by a cool cloth running along the back of her neck. House had actually gotten out of bed to help her out, obviously trying to earn himself some brownie points for his state of return the night before.

"Could you turn on the light," she asked knowing full well that the light would absolutely kill because of his hangover.

One hand went to her shoulder, pulling her back gently, guiding her to a standing position as the light turned on. Of course House was prepared, already wearing his sunglasses.

"I figured you'd want to punish me, and I'm not going to voluntarily worsen my headache," he said as he limped out of the bathroom, leaving her to clean up a bit before having the inevitable talk before work.

ppppppppppppppppppppppppp

Cameron sat at the end of the bed, House at the other with his back facing her, staring at the floor.

"Nightmares."

Startled by the abrupt bluntness of his statement, she got up to take the seat next to him. Clearly he wanted to get this over with.

"Nightmares," she asked.

"I've been having nightmares...about you and the kid," he sighed still looking down at the floor.

"What hap-"

Facing her, he interrupted,

"Does it really matter? Every night it's the same thing. Something goes wrong and I'm the one who gets left behind."

He focused his gaze once more on the floor adding quietly,

"It's going to happen. I just don't want to see it."

Reaching out, Cameron placed her hand over his own, trying to lace their fingers, but he wasn't allowing it. Instead he clenched into a fist and slid his hand away.

"Greg how long have we been together," she asked. Apparently she had a point, but House wasn't in the mood for points, only comfort and reassurance from the one person who could give it to him.

"What do you mean?"

He was being intentionally thick to get a rise out of her for his own secret amusement whenever a serious conversation presented itself, and also to prolong the talk of the problem

"How long have we been together?"

"Depends. If you count the four years it took for us to-"

"You know what I mean." That time she covered his fist with her tiny hand, squeezing and stroking her thumb across white knuckles.

"Three years," he conceded casually. Waiting for a response, he never got it. Instead Cameron stood, heading for the doorway.

"That's it," he asked surprisingly. Sure he wanted the talk to end, but he wanted to feel better because of it. He still felt the same.

"That's it," and she continued her way out the door, down the hallway, and to the kitchen, leaving a shocked House on the bed.

ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

In the kitchen, Cameron was getting a pot of coffee together while listening to the radio. Knowing that House had come in, watching her from behind, she chose to ignore it because whatever and however this was going to happen was on his terms. There really wasn't anything she could do to be honest.

Of course she could say, 'Everything's going to be fine,' or 'You'll be a great dad because you want to be,' or 'Being a father is making you nervous and scared, but it'll all turn out.' Yeah okay. Try saying that to Greg House and see what happens.

Just quit now.

Don't even think about it.

She could hear the rubber thump on the tile as he made his way beside her. Elbows rested on the counter, he was about to speak when Cameron pressed down on the button to mix the coffee beans, pretending that his attempt went unnoticed.

Switching off the radio, House grabbed the mixed beans and slammed them onto the counter, jaw clenching, breathing heavy as he tried to maintain control. It almost felt like Cameron didn't care and was looking for a way to let him know that his fears would soon become a reality.

"I need you to tell me what to think," he stated calmly, eyes locking with her own.

"You actually want my opinion," she asked, slightly faking surprise.

"That's sort of what you're supposed to do when you're married right," he said, a grin appearing across his face and leaving just as quickly.

"I'm not really sure what you want to hear. I can only tell you the truth, and you can decide from there."

"Sounds good," he replied plainly, his fingers drumming on the counter tops. With a sigh, she turned around to open the fridge, scanning its contents.

"How is it that when I want food we don't have it," she asked off handedly. House's brows scrunched in confusion, head tilted, still focusing on her,

"Is this part of you reassuring me because I'm not seeing the metaphor." She rolled her eyes as she closed the fridge.

"No. I'm hungry."

"Ah, right," his head bowed down, mouth crinkling to the side as he leaned against the counter.

"Look, you need to stop worrying that your leg is going to get in the way of your role as a father."

House shook his head a bit at the fact that she already knew what the issues were about,

"In a way, these nightmares can be a good thing. You obviously care enough," she added and House nodded.

"If I ever felt like I couldn't trust you or believed that this wouldn't work, then we wouldn't be here now. So...this is where I say I love you and get over it."

Pushing past him, she grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet and walked out, taking a seat on the couch. House smiled to himself as he watched her, finally limping into the room to join resting his feet on the coffee table.

"Play the piano," she suggested.

"Are you trying to kick me off the couch?"

Rolling her eyes,

"No, but it would be nice for the baby. Maybe it'll make him or her smarter." Standing, House held onto Cameron's hand as he did so, guiding her over to the piano bench,

"Nonsense. This baby's a House. No more genius could possibly be added," he joked while taking a seat and 'warming up' with some Bach.

pppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

After work, Cameron lay with House on the couch, head rested on his chest, tracing circle patterns on his stomach as he watched the episode of General Hospital that he TiVo'ed. Moments like these were some of Cameron's favorites: House's arm around her, resting as he was zoned in on some ridiculous show.

Constantly sneaking a few glances up at him as he massaged his temple, a subtle grin on his face at the humor of the doctors and the cheesiness of the relationships, she smiled to herself because she was the only person who was able to witness these rare instances where House was relaxed.

And it was with her.

"Are you okay," she asked suddenly. House's grip tightened around her shoulders, bringing her closer against him. He didn't respond, but that was enough.

"Just think, in a few months when I'm much rounder," she emphasized the word 'round' because she knew House was going to make comments, probably using the term 'fat.' He chuckled at the exaggeration as she continued,

"We'll get to experiment a bit." Snuggling up against him more, she became aware of the sudden bulge in his jeans that wasn't there before.

"I'm way ahead of you," he whispered, pulling her in for a kiss, nipping at her top lip, his tongue grazing across her bottom, before slipping inside her mouth. He swallowed her moan and growled in frustration when she pushed away to look at him,

"You're going to have to wait another month or two," she said cheekily.

"Fine. Now stop teasing," he panted as his hand ran through her hair to the back of her head, bringing her down for another kiss.

He scooted along the couch until he was lying flat on his back, Cameron straddling, his hands gripping her hips, tugging her back and forth to grind against his hard length.

His eyes rolled into the back of his head at the sensation, his hips thrusting against her more fiercely, clearly eager to relieve the tension in his cock.

"Hey slow down," she whispered as she lifted her leg over him, standing beside the couch as she slid her panties down, ready to reposition herself above him. He had already pushed his boxers and jeans down to his ankles while she stood beside him.

As she went to straddle him again, his hand smoothed along her thigh to the back of her leg, guiding her as she gently maneuvered above him.

Hand on his chest, she took hold of his cock, easing her way on to him as he groaned his appreciation while quickly taking hold of her waist.

"Move," he panted and pleaded.

"Are you already close," she asked while moving at a painfully slow speed up and down above him. His eyes closed, mouth slightly open as short gasps escaped while she smiled at the sight, and he trying to force her into a faster pace.

"Are you," she asked tauntingly into his ear, biting the lobe and licking 'away' the teeth marks.

"Yes...ah, yes...Alli-move."

By the look on his face, and the feel of him inside her, she knew that he was right there, and she grabbed his hand to press his thumb to her clit as she bounced faster above him, panting and encouraging.

Licking her fingers, she circled each nipple, cupping her breast into one hand while the other pushed on his shoulder for leverage, head tilting back as she felt her orgasm escalate.

House opened his eyes to see Cameron touching herself, moving, panting, sweating and without any more warning he groaned her name as he came.

After a few short moments,

"Keep moving," he told her while holding on to her waist, all his energy working to thrust a few more times as his other hand rubbed her clit until silently her orgasm poured.

His hands ran along her back, calming as he planted a kiss on the top of her head while she lay on top of him, catching her breath.

"Wow," she muffled into his chest.

"Yeah," pause, "Bed."

"Again," she asked raising her head in surprise.

"We can wait," he replied with a smirk. She stroked his cheek, intrigued by the fact that his stubble could still feel smooth at times. She wanted to ask him again if he was alright, but chose to trust that he would come to her if he wasn't.

With a smile,

"Bed," she said while standing up, grabbing his hand to bring him with.


	16. Chapter 16

There were two things wrong with the picture before House: 

1) Cameron was four months pregnant.

Four months!

Actually, that wouldn't necessarily be _wrong _except for the fact that House reproduced.

2) He was standing with said pregnant wife in a _baby store_...

Pottery Barn Kids to be exact (yeah baby store for doctors), looking at strollers, cribs, random accessories, baby bath tubs, and the list goes on and on.

It was ghastly enough that the cynical bastard, Greg House was here, but if Cameron expected him to attend any Lamaze classes in the future, well then she had another thing coming.

House couldn't grasp or rather understand the idea of women getting worked up about little things like these and reasoned their motherly insanity with some logic of his own.

There's a stroller. It has wheels, a handle, a shade cover...buy it. Why bother with design when the kid isn't going to appreciate the fact that you decided to pick a stroller that has a famous Disney character or race cars?

And bibs? Please. Whether it has Mickey Mouse or Rugrats on it, there's going to be puke and baby food stains that will destroy it. The only true prevention from a baby slob would be a Monster Truck, and they don't seem to make those, therefore causing the disinterest.

They turned down another aisle and when seeing the pacifiers, House made a mental note, 'No way in hell is my kid going to call that a binky.'

It was odd standing there, feeling completely out of place. Not even Cameron's presence beside him gave a sense of belonging.

This was just too bizarre.

"Oh Greg, look at these," Cameron said in an 'aren't these the cutest things in the world' tone.

House turned around, trying with great difficulty to not roll his eyes as he limped slowly towards Cameron, eyeing the yellow booties she held.

With a sharp intake of breath, his face scrunched into an almost disgusted, confused, _searching for the right words expression_ as his mind battled between answering and being an ass.

"Nice," he finally said, the pitch of his voice a bit higher as he swallowed down any quip squirming for freedom. Her arms dropped, smacking the booties against her thighs in disappointment of his response.

"Nice? There so-"

'Do not say cute' he thought. "Do not say cute."

Her posture changed as the wave of thrill seemed to dissipate at his lack of enthusiasm.

"Aren't you at least a bit excited about this?"

"Of course I am, but why do we need to do this now? We can do this when the baby registry needs to be made. Right now, I want to go home."

Nodding,

"Fine. Let's go," she stated casually setting the booties down and walking quickly to the exit.

House's upper body sagged, head hanging, chin resting on his chest as she sauntered off.

"Allison. Hold on."

She looked over her shoulder, watching and waiting until he pointed to another area of the store,

"I think there might be some baby clothes over there."

Since he avoided her face when he said it, not wanting to see the gratitude, he began limping off to where he had pointed, missing out on Cameron standing behind for a moment, recovering from shock at his consideration.

ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

Work was slow again, and House spent much of his time in his office with Cameron, eating lunch and watching tv.

By the second month of pregnancy, Cameron had turned into a lazy piece, always lying on the couch with a blanket, flipping through channels as though no work needed to be done, and perhaps it was House's encouragements by waiting on her, giving foot massages, and kisses that prevented her from changing her uncharacteristic, yet so amusing behavior.

In the office, Cameron nestled against House in the corner chair as the tv sat in the middle of the room. For once, House let Cameron be in charge of the remote which she took complete advantage of by watching some ridiculous show on HGTV.

"This is on for two minutes and then off," House demanded in her ear.

"Embarrassed Wilson's going to walk in and see you," she joked.

"The doors are locked and no I'm not embarrassed, but I will be worried if this ever begins to interest me."

She chuckled lightly as she rubbed along the length of his chest.

He loved that sound and tickled her side to provoke it one more time.

House kept glancing at the clock, a personal countdown ticking away in his head before time was up to turn off 'Home Gardens.'

It wasn't even worth the title of a puzzle because there really wasn't anything that could be solved. Some people seem to enjoy watching others place seeds in the ground, pat down the soil, and discover the amount of fertilizer and water needed for each individual plant.

"Fertilizer is overrated. If the plant can't grow on it's own then it obviously wasn't strong enough to begin with," he stated.

"Is that a hint of interest I'm detecting?"

"Absolutely not. It's obviously a remark towards the violations of nature."

"Right because you're all about nature taking its course."

"Maybe. Maybe not," pause, "Two minutes are up," he announced, snatching the remote from her hand, changing the channel to a wrestling cage match.

"Hey," she exclaimed over the cheers of the roaring crowd on the screen.

"Shh. He's climbing the ropes."

Before she could answer, there was a knock at the office door, their heads turning towards the sound.

"Unless you have a case, I don't want to talk to you," he shouted while his arm stretched to keep the remote out of reach.

"I have the file," Cuddy's voice called from the other side of the door.

"Are they dying?"

"No, but-"

"Give it to Chase and Foreman. They'll page me if it's worth it."

Cuddy began shouting something, but House turned up the volume as the crowd cheered when one fighter body slammed the other.

"You're not going to look through the folder," she asked. Looking down, he pulled her tighter against him, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Chase and Foreman will let me know if there's an actual case."

ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

Cameron was in the kitchen glancing at the fridge to see if any of the menus popped out at her to reveal something delicious. She wasn't sure what she was in the mood for. To be honest, a little bit of everything would suffice.

Startled by arms wrapping around her waist, she pulled off a pizza menu.

"You know, you'd think that with a cane, your presence would be heard from a distance," she said as she opened the menu, debating on getting the cheesy breadsticks or hot wings with the pizza.

'Both,' she decided.

"Perhaps, except that I use my stealth mode to get a reaction."

"You find my being startled amusing?"

"Of course," he said placing soft kisses on the side of her head, down to her neck.

As she tilted her head,

"Fine, but it's going to have to stop when we get older because I'm not going to have a heart attack from your so called 'stealth mode.'"

He didn't answer. Instead, his hands roamed across her belly and down to her waist, his kisses traveling to the back of her neck as his cheek swept her hair aside.

"What are we having for dinner," he asked against her neck.

"Pizza."

Standing straight, he twisted her body around to face him,

"A decision's been made so you can put down the menu and we can play," he whispered with a self-satisfied grin.

"You order the pizza. Hot wings and breadsticks too."

House's jaw dropped in disbelief. 'Is she really doing this again?'

"I'm going to go get ready in the bedroom," she said, her head peeking around the entryway of the kitchen,

"Now hurry up."

Dialing the number, he shouted before placing his order,

"Run the bath!"


	17. Chapter 17

"Who are you," House asked. 

He had just walked into his office, stopping at the door to see Wilson sitting with someone he wasn't acquainted with, a much younger someone, in front of his desk.

"House, this is Dr. Daniel Adams. He's a cardiologist," Wilson said as House limped to the coat rack, avoiding eye contact, clearly giving, if lucky, a quarter of his attention.

"He's applying for a posit-"

House pulled the I-pod out of his jacket pocket, taking a seat, legs crossed on the desk as the music began blaring through his headphones.

Dr. Adams stared at House for a moment, suddenly becoming interested in the detail of the walls.

'Glass, eh?'

Wilson was not amused. He had taken time off to help with the interviewing and unlike some, had other work that he could be doing. Actually there really was not too much of a sacrifice since Cuddy was rewarding by giving some of his clinic hours to House.

The faint harmony of 'The Who' echoed throughout the room as House's head bobbed side to side, eyes shut in relaxation.

"I could come back another time," Adams suggested uncomfortably.

"No just give it a few minutes. Though, you should prepare yourself for sarcasm," Wilson warned, going through Adam's resume once more.

"Dr. House's reputation is well-known as is Dr. Cuddy's descriptions of his personality over the phone," he stated with a chuckle.

"Good. Good."

There was a sudden dead, awkward silence. Both men searching, digging their minds for something to say. Wilson tapped his thumbs in an unsteady beat while waiting/hoping House would open his damn eyes to read the plea behind his own.

Dr. Adams had his general concerns, but working for Dr. House would be a non-regrettable experience, an opportunity with the definite possibility of getting him somewhere far greater in the future. Dr. House was a sure route to success it would seem.

"Soo. Three fellows, correct," Adams asked. Maybe there wasn't honest curiosity, but it was an attempt to break the ice.

"Yes, you would be the third. The last fellow left before their contract was through since the opportunity to work in the Immunology Department was offered, and obviously a better career move."

"Ah of course. Will there-"

Interrupting his next question was Cameron who was unmistakably angry at the man pretending to take no notice of any other life waiting in his office.

Her pace was quick on her way to his desk. Tugging the buds out of his ears, his eyes snapped open and immediately turning to shoot a glare at the two men in front of his desk before realizing that it was in fact his wife.

"Uh-oh," he said waiting for the inevitable irrational argument by raging hormones.

"Do you enjoy pissing me off? Is it the twisted workings of your mind that lead my anger into a turn on for you," she asked heatedly, arms crossed.

Out the corner of his eye, House caught a quick glance of Adams evidently mesmerized by the sight of Cameron standing before him.

His eyes running an inspection from her flushed cheeks, the curves of her breasts, down to her ass. It was the shifting in his chair that bothered House the most when Adam's eyes paused, focusing on her breasts again.

In response, House pounded a fist on his desk, everyone jumping in shock as he reached out to grab Cameron, winding his arms around her waist possessively as his cheek rested against her stomach,

"Mine," he said like a three year old who hasn't learned that everyone should share their toys.

Although his words seemed a bit playful, there still was a trace of warning and control.

The dangerous narrowed eyed glare caused Adams to clear his throat in discomfort, giving a slight nod in understanding with a phony smile.

Cameron pushed against his shoulders to step away.

"Is it really that difficult for you to put the seat down," House's lips wrinkled to the side of his face, holding back any and all replies as well as a laugh.

"And again, the coffee machine was left on, and the toaster was left out with bread crumbs all over the counter. I shouldn't have to check everything to make sure you did your job. Sort of defeats the purpose. My body aches, I'm tired so I would appreciate it if you would just do a few simple things around the house."

Brows elevated, House nodded,

"Stop clenching," was his only response.

"I'm cold."

"Yeah," he drew out the word in disbelief, "I do that too when I'm cold. Lash out at people, I mean."

"I wasn't lashing out," she replied sternly.

"Riight, must've missed the part where you were calm and thoughtful."

The defiant stare made him grin which only added a bit more spice to her fury.

"You're crabby," he swerved in his chair, facing Wilson and Adams.

"I'm pregnant."

"Obviously."

"Fine," she didn't say another word and left the office, the click of her heels echoing still when she rounded the corner.

"Real smooth House. Why don't you piss her off some more, then you can be guaranteed no sex for months," Wilson shook his head, irritated at his best friends lack of compassion a few moments ago.

"She knows I care."

"Surprised to hear that. You know, sometimes it's okay to actually show it every once in a while. Maybe voice your affection?"

Annoyed, House ignored his comment and pointed at Adams,

"You can go home. There's no position," he said and grabbed his cane.

"Cuddy's going to bother you until you hire someone," Wilson said, pause, "Where are you going?"

"To voice my affection, duh."

He opened his pill bottle, swallowing two vicodin, and as he walked out of his office, he shouted,

"You're hired."

Both men sat there confused, glancing to make sure that they had actually heard what they thought.

"Well, I guess we'll see you tomorrow." Wilson held out his hand to shake which Adams accepted then asked,

"Was that woman Dr. House's girlfriend?"

"No," Adams smiled, thinking that he may have a shot.

Wilson oddly enough enjoyed this because the next thing he was ready to say would make his expression priceless.

'Oh god, I have to stop spending so much time with House,' he thought, but finished his sentence anyway,

"Allison's his wife."

ppppppppppppppppppppppp

Cameron wasn't in her office when he checked, and Cuddy found him walking to the elevators.

"House," she called after him.

"Can't talk."

"I'm letting you know that Allison went home early."

Rolling his eyes,

"Great."

ppppppppppppppppppppp

Despite Cuddy's commands at going to the clinic, House had left to go home and talk to Cameron. It was apparent that his behavior that morning was not comforting or understanding, and although he didn't show it, he regretted doing it. Hence, the leaving work to...apologize(?).

Whatever happens, happens.

Pushing his key into the lock,

**BANG!**

**CRASH!**

**THUMP!**

"Allison," House called.

Unlocking the door, he shoved it open, his cane dropping as he hopped around the house, using the objects around him as leverage to move faster.

"Allison," he shouted again, but no answer. 'Fuck' he muttered to himself.

"Allison." Nothing.

Not in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, he went back to the front door then spotted Cameron lying by the book shelf, cursing himself for not seeing her before.

Kneeling down,

"Allison. Wake up," he slapped her cheek, but it didn't work. Whipping out his cell phone, he dialed the emergency number,

"This is Dr. House. I need an ambulance to come to 1734 Ashmore STAT." He hung up, dialing one more number while still trying to wake Cameron.

"Wilson. I need you to come. Allie's unconscious," he noticed the lack of strength in his voice that was replaced with fear.

Not waiting for a reply, he tossed the cell to the ground, patting Cameron's cheek a few more times, but she still wasn't responding.


	18. Chapter 18

"Hypothyroidism. It's a thyroid hormone deficiency that Allison has had for a while which is the reason she was unable to get pregnant in the past." 

House listened to the doctor, beating around in his mind for some explanation as to how he and Cameron, _both_, missed the symptoms. Sure they're similar to pregnancy, but…what the hell?

They're _doctors_!

As the doctor spoke, House constantly gave sarcastic retorts to every comment as some defense against his lapse of ignorance, but they were only thoughts.

It seemed that he was unable to vocalize his anger because, really, there were two main concerns consuming his mind.

The only things worth being mentioned right then was whether Cameron and the baby were fine. He didn't need to hear the details about the problem; he already knew.

Possible birth defects including IQ, development…

House, at least, allowed the doctor to finish the unnecessary spiel, but wandered off to the past, trying to grasp the moments where it was clear there was a problem. Even that day, she said she was cold, and her body was sore.

Well, obviously, she's pregnant, but if it was any other pregnant woman he could have spotted the difference. Why not his own wife? When it concerned their child?

When the explanation was through, House asked the question that had been hammering his brain since the second he saw Cameron on the floor,

"And the baby?"

"Right now everything seems to be fine, but we're going to run some tests to confirm that the fall didn't cause any damage, but we-"

"Have you discovered the cause for Allison to actually collapse," he asked casually, trying to succeed in the illusion of a together, in control, confident father.

But that was the outside. Anyone can fake the look of composure. It was everything jumbling about at intensely fast rates on the inside, the feeling of repositioning organs twisting, stretching, and tightening.

It was painful.

It was draining.

It was blocking all oxygen.

And it pissed him off.

"Not yet. A logical cause-"

"I don't want logical. I want to know what happened," House demanded.

"I'm sorry, but right now we can only speculate," pause, "It could have been the dizziness that was getting to her, possibly stress."

The doctor paused briefly once again, allowing all his words to sink in with the seemingly detached man before him.

House's head lowered his focus on the floor before his eyes shut slowly at the word 'stress.' Stress he was certain to be the reason for.

The doctor continued,

"A positive to all of this is if the incident hadn't occurred, then detection would have come about much later. The cause of her inability to become pregnant wasn't discovered before-"

"Don't worry. I'll be contacting that doctor **very** soon," House said dangerously.

"Of course. We're going to do some blood tests to check her TSH levels…"

House nodded as the doctor continued to speak. It was all he could do. There really wasn't more he wanted or needed to hear.

"Can I go see her now?"

Funny, since that was a pointless question because regardless of the answer he was going into her room anyway. If Wilson was there, he'd probably bring that up. 'Where is Wilson,' House thought to himself as he limped down the hall to Cameron's room.

If there was ever a true moment where he needed him it was right then. Although he would never admit it, never show it, House believed that he and Cameron were the only two people who could relax him, reassure him…'make things better.'

House opened the door to Cameron's room, dragging a chair from the corner to the side of her bed, and watched with his chin grazing along the handle of his cane.

She was asleep, and he was silently convincing himself, doing his best to not allow all the blame to fall on him. It was something that neither of them needed.

Chest moving up and down with her breaths, House placed a hand on the top of her stomach, the pad of his thumb running a circular pattern around her bellybutton. With a deep breath, Cameron opened her eyes.

"Hey," he said in a rough whisper.

"Hi," pause, "Is everything...okay?"

His hand slid down to her side as he pulled away, leaning back in his chair,

"They're going to do a few tests to make sure." The look on her face made him continue,

"Right now they think that everything's fine."

"What do you think," she asked.

Hesitating, "I don't know. We'll see what happens," he said with a shrug.

Rolling her eyes, Cameron turned her head so she was staring up at the ceiling. Why did he always have to do that? Make the big things seem like not such a big deal?

At times that sort of quality would be welcoming, but not this time and she couldn't hold in the annoyance that she felt towards his seemingly careless response,

"We'll see what happens." It was like a statement of disbelief to herself before she propped up onto her elbows, "That's all you have to say about it? We'll see what happens? Yeah great plan, House. I'm so glad you care that much."

"Look, what do you want me to say huh?"

"Nothing. Why would I possibly want you to say anything," she asked heatedly.

"Hell if I know. I'm the last person anyone should come to for something like this, but you're obviously expecting something. So tell me, what is you want to hear?"

"A little honesty would help instead of the constant guessing game we've been playing since the first day we met."

The volume of her voice elevated as the fury surged through her body with every word, every bitter word of truth.

"No. What you want to hear is that I'm scared and need you to stay with me so we can talk about our feelings," he said with disdain, his face contorting into a mocking expression of her, what he thought, absurdity.

Shaking her head, she adjusted so that she was lying slightly on her side, back facing him.

With a sigh, House stood from the chair, taking one step forward before second guessing his actions.

Should he stay?

Would it be better to let things settle down?

No.

Cameron's body tilted backward from the dip of the bed as House took a seat next to her.

"Scoot over."

"Just leave me alone for a while, Greg," she whispered. House smiled to himself as he scanned the length of the bed, his hand levitating above her side before brining it back.

"Don't be cranky. Now move," he nudged her a bit until she finally, grudgingly moved forward.

"You are such a stubborn ass," she stated.

He slid one arm underneath her pillow while the other wrapped around her waist, his chin touching the top of her head.

Minutes passed, the buzzing from the light on the ceiling, the soles of shoes tapping against the floor as people walked by, and the scrunchy squeak from their bodies repositioning every so often as company until,

"I hope things are okay," she said while gripping his fingers, squeezing for reassurance.

"It will be," he said into her ear then placed a kiss on her cheek.


	19. Chapter 19

The doctors decided to keep Cameron for a few nights, monitoring her condition for improvements and signs of regression. Everything seemed to be pointing in the positive direction, giving the doctors just enough reassurance that with Levothyroxine Cameron would be able to regulate her thyroid hormone levels, reducing the risks of anymore complications...hopefully. 

As a result of House and Cameron's little argument the first night, they were able to find a comforting way of showing their worry about their current situation a bit more to House's liking. Since the beginning, neither had been very good with selecting the most accurate words to reflect their sentiments for one another.

With no intentions of sounding like Goldilocks, it was either too small of a word, or too big, but in order to make it 'just right' they had their stares and body language to define all.

Bottom line: They were scared.

_House_ was scared. The stakes in his situation were far sharper, higher...that is, if one were to look at the past few months from his perspective, the situation could turn into:

- baby gone

- wife gone- No family.

Which essentially leaves the option, not so much an option, but _no chance_ of ever making it.

It would just be like God's own entertainment at the expense of those who don't follow, their punishment for believing in a world where life evolved and people became the way they are due to heat, or protection of their clan, or instinct, or building of intelligence by making tools.

If anything negative were to happen, House made a note to remind God to blame Anthropology.

As they packed Cameron's things, House couldn't stray away from the vibrant image of himself sitting outside, anywhere, with a drink in hand thinking that if God wanted him dead, then he should have done it a long time ago instead of giving him a taste of something much better, only to strangle him with burning liquid and the contents in an orange bottle.

The thought wasn't foreign by any means because it had come to him on several occasions. House continued to allow his thoughts to bury themselves deeper into gloom while his imagination created a picture so realistic, he could have sworn it was a memory.

The feelings were there as if he had lost his family already, but vanished when he heard Cameron call his name.

"You ready to go," she asked while holding back any questions about what was on his mind.

With his back facing her, he placed her toothbrush in a Ziploc bag, shoving it into a side pocket as he said quietly,

"We could've lost the kid."

"I know," she whispered, lips tightening in an attempt to build the strength to keep away any tears.

"What would happen if we did?"

Dropping the bag onto a corner chair, he grabbed his cane that was leaning against the wall and turned to face her.

Cameron wasn't ready for this, hadn't anticipated this, and never thought it a possibility unless she forced it out of him. Sure he had his moments, but she could only count three times when he was the one to actually _start_ these kinds of conversations.

Looking up, Cameron was faced with his intensive cobalt stare, feeling reluctant to give him the honesty he was asking for.

Seeming to sense her hesitance he added,

"The truth."

"I don't know what you want to hear. Are you asking if we'd try to have another? If we'd stay together...If I'd blame you?"

"Just...yes. Fine. All of those."

He didn't know why he was getting so angry. Perhaps it was her stalling or because she didn't know right away what he was asking.

"I wouldn't blame you, Greg."

Pause.

Deep Breath.

Hesitate.

She continued, "But I don't think we'd stay together."

"Why not," he interrupted quickly, pushing for reasoning so that he'd be able to avoid it from happening if something were to occur in the future.

"Because you and I would never talk about it. Maybe once. Maybe twice, but then it would be pushed aside, leaving us to break apart until one of us couldn't take it anymore."

"This is something I should be saying," he half-joked.

Puffing air between his cheeks, he lowered his head slightly, keeping his eyes on her,

"You think I'd leave," he stated plainly.

Cameron shook her head,

"No. I think I would."

Of course he wanted to question this.

Why would she leave him?

What was she basing her assumptions on?

Before he had time to comprehend and respond, she grabbed her bag from the chair sitting behind him, walking out of the room.

pppppppppppppp

At home, House sat staring at the keys of his piano, thinking about Cameron's 'confession.' Could their relationship really revolve around their soon-to-be born child? He figured that their relationship was actually stronger than that.

HELLO!! They went through a hell of a lot more than most couples just to go on their second 'real' date. Not to mention she was married to someone like him. That has to count in the bonus section that rests in his favor.

If she was strong enough to be with him and love him for the rest of her life, how could it be that she so simply stated that _she_ would be the one to leave _him_.

Cameron approached behind him from the kitchen once she realized that he hadn't played a thing since he sat at the piano over an hour ago.

"It's just what I think. I'm not saying its how it'll happen," she whispered into his ear with her arms wrapped around his neck,

"And everything's fine so far. If anything happens, we'll just go to the hospital and they'll figure it out before something goes wrong."

He didn't make an effort to turn around, didn't reach up to hold her hand, he just leaned into her,

"I love you," he said.

Pause, "You know that right?"

"I know it," she squeezed her arms a bit tighter and kissed him behind the ear,

"Me too."


	20. Chapter 20

The six month pregnant Cameron lay in bed beside House, going through the file of their latest patient. House was flipping through the stations until he settled on the History Channel, something Cameron never having really understood the object of its appeal. Regardless, House watched it...and enjoyed it, so she always gave it a chance thinking that maybe this time she'd find it interesting. 

It's funny; it's just like walking into your kitchen, opening up the fridge in search of something delicious only to find it practically empty, and as you close the door you groan at the thought of having to make a trip to the grocery store. Yet, five minutes later, you open the fridge again as if there will be something sitting behind the gallon of milk that wasn't there before.

Cameron never enjoyed history, but always kept coming back for more, thinking that there would be something this time to catch her attention.

It doesn't really happen that way.

The beeping from the microwave resonated into their bedroom, and Cameron scooted to the edge of the bed before House took hold of her forearm, tugging her gently backward.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw him grabbing his cane that was leaning against the side table and stood to retrieve the leftovers from the kitchen.

It's always the little things that convinced Cameron in the beginning that House cared.

pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

Usually they didn't eat in their room because

1) Cameron's, "We have tables for a reason." would always stop it

and

2) Nobody likes waking up to the feel of crumbs between their toes

"Quit putting so much sauce on that," House complained when Cameron reached for the Tabasco yet again to pour on her chicken and rice.

"Don't even get me started. How many shakes of salt did you put on your pizza," she countered back with a raise of a brow.

"Does it matter?"

"You don't need the extra sodium with the way you eat," she said while swatting his hand away from her plate.

He rolled his eyes as he took off his glasses,

"Please, it's called delicious and my diet is just fine."

She scoffed while adding,

"Right. I forgot that it's cool to have a heart attack."

"See," he pointed out, "Aren't you glad that I'm here to set you straight on what's hip?"

"Extremely."

Finishing his pizza, House opened up a carton of take-out that he ordered with Wilson a few nights before.

"Ugh. What is that," Cameron asked disgusted at the sight before her.

"Protein, carbs, lots of fat and guaranteed grease with every bite," he glanced at her from the side and continued,

"I don't know what this is. Wilson ordered it, it's good so I'm eating it."

"It doesn't look appetizing."

"Quit staring at my food and eat your own."

He tried sticking his fork into a piece of chicken from her plate, but she noticed his advances and held her plate away.

With a sigh,

"Here, try a bite of this and if you like it, I get a bite of your chicken."

Cameron picked up a piece of what she assumed was beef and with hesitation took a bite.

"Good?"

Nodding he swiped a strip of her chicken, shoving it into his mouth before she could take it away.

ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

After dinner, Cameron lay on her side, back against House's chest as her hand covered his that was pressed on the front of her stomach.

"I have another appointment on Thursday. Do you want to come with or you going to stay at work," she asked quietly in the dark while House stroked the tips of her fingers with the pad of his thumb.

"As of right now I'll go, but if something happens with the patient I'll stay."

When she didn't respond he lifted his head, nudging her shoulder with his chin for a reaction.

"I want you to come," she admitted quietly.

"Alright."

There was no need for an explanation. With the close call that they had a few months before, not to mention that he'd already skipped out on the last four appointments, he figured that the least he could do was go another time.

"You know what we haven't done in a while," House suggested lightly while removing his hand from her grasp, slowly sliding it down her stomach.

Scooting closer, the back of his hand ran smoothly along the inside of her thigh as she lifted her bent knee to stand upright, giving him better access to his destination.

His lips glided across the side of her neck, tracing a pattern before planting open mouth kisses to the back of her neck while his finger hooked around the band of her panties, tugging it down her thighs, his knuckles grazing her skin as they traveled further.

Cameron moaned her disapproval when he pulled away, his entire body absent from hers. Turning around she watched as he undid the button of his jeans, lifting his hips to remove them and his boxers to rest around his ankles.

"Come here," he whispered deeply, his arms outstretched to her.

She went to straddle his lap.

"No. Turn around." Biting her lip in anticipation, she turned so that her back faced him, his hands spreading her legs and settling them on each side of his lap.

There was no warning before he pushed himself inside her, his fingers already digging into her hips, helping her move instantly at his pace.

"Oh god," she gasped as he forced her up and shoved her back down on his cock, the palm of his hand already pressing against her clit.

Tasting the skin of her shoulder, his thrusts elevating in speed, their breathing quickening, her moans and his grunts more frequent, he bit into her shoulder to keep from coming when he heard her whisper, 'I love you' over and over while seeing her body bouncing on top of him and picturing the look on her face.

"Fuck Allie," he growled.

"Greg, I'm gonna cum," she barely got out with an exhale of breath.

"Go ahead."

Kissing the side of her neck, he used his thumb to rub faster circles against her clit. He could feel the start of her cum on his cock, her muscles compressing on him, holding, before she came entirely.

He didn't give in to his release until he was certain she rode out her orgasm.

Minutes later, they found themselves in their original position, Cameron on her side, House behind her with their fingers tangled against her stomach.

"So Thursday," he confirmed.

"Thursday."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Thank you to everyone reading and reviewing. Honestly, I LOVE your comments. I'm thinking that there's going to be four more chapters before it's over. **

**Thanks again everyone :D**

"Knock it off, Greg," Cameron whispered in the corner of her mouth, her hand squeezing his to punctuate her demand.

"I'm just looking."

There really was no point in arguing, House would do what he wanted and if that meant pressing buttons, rearranging folders and blowing up rubber gloves, well as they say, so be it.

"Dr. Murray is going to be in here soon," she complained, her forearm covering her eyes in embarrassment before peeking through to continue watching her husband's childish interests.

"Come on. You can't tell me this isn't entertaining," he tried to convince, his eyes focused on hers as he inhaled an exaggerated intake of breath, his cheeks puffing out as he blew into another rubber glove.

"Maybe when I was five."

"Nonsense."

He snagged a pen from its resting place on the counter,

"You'll love this," he said, his arm rising before it came down to complete the task.

"No Greg don't," Cameron squealed while plugging her ears at the loud _'pop'_ that echoed through out the exam room.

Right when Cameron shrieked and House punctured the glove, Dr. Murray opened the door, her mouth widening to express her greeting before jumping back at the unexpected sound.

The room was silent.

Cameron covered her mouth, cheeks turning a light shade of red as she focused on swallowing down her laughter.

Clearing his throat, a mild laugh escaping his lips, House sent a quick nod to Dr. Murray before taking the seat in the corner of the room with a grin on his face.

His only thought as he sat down,

_'Better than work.'_

- - -

Dr. Murray was setting up the monitors as Cameron lay before her, gown no longer covering her belly as House smeared the gel along her stomach while holding the transducer in his hand.

With the flip of a switch, Dr. Murray faced the couple,

"Alright. Dr. House would you like to do this or would you prefer me?"

"Greg, let her do it."

His eyes narrowed, and his tilted at her request. When she slid her hand into his, her fingers containing a firm grasp around his own, he understood.

"Here," he said as he handed the transducer over.

"Okay, let's see how the baby is doing," Dr. Murray said with a smile, her head turning towards the screen once more.

This was the first time House was going to see his baby, and he wasn't sure what was to be expected. Sure he's performed several ultrasounds before, but like his first visit with Cameron to her appointment, it was the very idea that he was on the opposite end of things that was the worry.

Leaning down, House pressed his lips behind Cameron's ear,

"Make me a promise," he asked with a whisper.

Turning her head, their noses touching, Cameron nodded.

"Don't start crying."

Rolling her eyes, she focused on the screen once more before realizing that House's attention was continuously scanning the room rather than on their soon-to-be born baby on the monitor.

"Greg," she whispered, "Stop worrying and look."

Lips scrunching to the side, House glanced at the monitor, intending on a moment, but never able to look away.

That was his kid.

He reproduced.

With Cameron.

Without tearing his gaze from the screen, he quickly leaned down once more to plant a soft kiss, on what was planned to be her forehead, but ended up being her eye.

His thumb stroked Cameron's side as he held on to her hand. Instantly, excitement turned to love then mixed with fear at the idea of being unfit to be this kids father.

"She'll probably be a dancer, or a runner," pause, "Something you'll have to do with her," House stated.

"What makes you think it's a girl," Cameron asked, ignoring the insinuation of his comments.

"I know," he said with a serious tone.

"We're going to be good parents."

"We are," he replied.

Once again, his tone was serious, and Cameron felt no vibes of doubt which only gave her more confidence that things would be fine, and House's insecurities would pass along soon enough.

- - -

Walking through the front door, Cameron tossed her coat on the rack, watching it fall to the floor as she headed towards the bedroom.

"Aren't you going to pick this up," House complained as he gestured to her jacket lying across the entryway of their condo.

"Nope."

"Ah, I see. Soo when I do something like this I have to take care of it, but when you-"

Her head peeked around the bedroom door when she interrupted,

"How about we continue this when you're six months pregnant and have no problems bending over."

When she disappeared, he shouted,

"Fine. Strip and lie down spread eagle on the bed."

Limping to his piano, he pulled out a bottle of scotch that sat underneath on a pile of books and flipped over the cup that rested upside down on his speaker.

Pulling off the top, he poured himself half a glass before grabbing his cane and moving towards the bedroom.

When he walked in, he nearly choked on the sip he had just taken at the sight of a pregnant Cameron, lying naked on the bed with her hand between her thighs, teasing her clit.

His feet were rooted to the ground, mesmerized by her movements, her index and middle finger sliding to her opening for lubricant as she moved back up to continue pleasuring herself once more.

Her eyes opened, a smug grin on her face as she panted,

"Bout time. Now get over here and finish this."

Placing his scotch on the dresser, he dropped his cane while tugging off his shirt with one hand, his other working the belt of his jeans while hopping to the front of the bed.

When he registered that getting rid of two articles of clothing at once wasn't as effective, he hooked a finger under the back of his collar and pulled it over his head, his hair standing in all directions at the removal of 'The Stones.'

Sitting at the edge of the bed, he twisted his upper body to kneel between her thighs, her fingers still making work of the nub on her pussy as she moaned his name over and over to hurry.

The pain in his leg was overridden by the ache in his cock as his fingers fumbled with the buckle of his belt then to the button of his jeans.

If it weren't for the aroused state of Cameron thrusting upward in front of him, he would've made a sarcastic barb about the asshole who decided that buttons were better than snaps.

Shoving the jeans and boxers down his legs, he lay on his back kicking his legs wildly to free himself from the denim that confined him from mobility at the moment.

Struggling, he lifted his left leg to slide down one pant leg, his head leveled with Cameron's thigh.

Her scent reached his nose and he groaned as he pushed his hand against the mattress to sit up all while stroking his cock at the pace she circled her clit.

Once his jeans were on the floor he gestured for Cameron to move,

"Scoot back," he ordered and she complied.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from her entrance before his hands slid along her inner thighs.

Sending one last glance her way, he flashed her a smile then leant down, burying his face between her legs. Her fingers gripped his hair as she thrust her cunt against his face, eager for him to lick faster, to bite a bit more harder.

She looked down, wanting to watch him pleasure her, but couldn't see over her stomach.

"Greg," she panted, still moving against his face, "Greg."

He still hadn't stopped, just held her down as he shoved his tongue inside,

"Oh god, Greg. Stop."

Immediately he paused, but didn't move from his position. Gathering his thoughts, he slowly pushed himself upwards, ready for whatever she was planning to say.

"I can't see."

Biting his lip to hold back a grin, he gestured with his head,

"Sit up a little."

"No. I want you inside me."

"And I want you to cum in my mouth."

"Greg," she pleaded.

"On your side."

As he asked, she turned to the side. He slid his hand to the front of her stomach while positioning himself behind her, his chest sticking to her back as he pushed himself into her wetness with a groan.

They met each other with every thrust, hips rolling forwards and backwards, his hot breath tickling the back of her neck as she reached behind to cup his ass, willing him to move faster.

"Touch yourself again," he ordered.

"Are you close," she asked, gasping when her middle finger pushed against her clit.

"Yeah, I'm close," pause. Looking over her shoulder, he kissed the temple of her forehead, "Move your finger faster, Allie."

When she shouted his name, covering her cum on his cock, his attention moved to between their bodies, his cock glistening before it disappeared again inside of her.

A few more quick movements,

One.

Two.

Three.

"Oh, Allie."

He tightened his grip around her waist, the smell of their fluids as the dominating scent along with their sweat. He kissed the back of her neck, then moved to her cheek, his finger reaching for her chin to get her to turn her head.

"Look at me," he whispered, "I haven't kissed you yet."

Cameron slid her hand to the back of his head as he leaned forward more so that his lips reached hers, his right arm holding him steady.

When they pulled away, House still soft inside her, he asked nonchalantly,

"I'm still hungry. Dinner?"


	22. Chapter 22

With every day another would disappear on the countdown for the arrival of a newborn House. Well, of course, isn't that how it goes? 

For House, it wasn't about getting up and going to work, awaiting the new patient that would come his way.

No.

It was about preparation:

Mentally: believing that out of the many men who fathered a child, he wouldn't be the worst.

Emotionally: the complete opposite of his own father

Physically: healthier habits that didn't involve as much Vicodin intake and maybe one less night of ordering pizza

There wasn't a puzzling enough case that could distract him from the colossal situation that was only a couple months away, the task that demanded much more than just solving, but fixing.

For anyone else, the thought of becoming a parent would seem almost simple. It may not be easy, but at least they'd have a chance of being successful┘people like Cameron.

Seeing their baby for the first time would take away every fear and replace it with something no one can describe, but only feel the permanence of such a powerful sentiment.

When it came to House, it was much more imaginable that as a father figure, for him, would not only be difficult, but ultimately impossible.

Could he really bank on an epiphany the moment he holds his child?

Would he shed a tear at the supposed intense love and devotion that may overwhelm him?

Probably not, but that was the only thing House could count on, that attachment that would link him to their baby and maybe develop into something that was filled with confidence and unconditional love.

His mind rattled with these thoughts as he sat in the stairway two floors away from the roof, his head resting against the cool tile of the wall as he held on tightly to the railing.

His nostrils flared with every exhale of breath as he kept his eyes closed to focus on his breathing, his jaw clenching to soothe his body out of that need for a Vicodin during these situations.

- - -

Chase, Foreman, and the newbie, Adams, sat in the conference room going through potential patient folders for anything that seemed mildly intriguing.

They'd been case-less for the past few days and were searching for something that would at least convince Cuddy that they were too busy to do clinic duty.

Cameron rounded the corner, smiling to herself when she noticed the three boys sitting at the table, Chase's head bobbing up and down as he began to fall asleep from boredom.

Opening the door, one hand on her stomach, the other resting on her hip, she cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention.

"Busy I see," she smiled while taking a few steps towards the table. Adams was the only one to appear nervous by her presence, throat growing more and more dry as she closed the gap between them.

"Have you guys seen House?"

Foreman and Chase shrugged their shoulders, but Adams jumped at the opportunity to speak to her,

"He said he"d," he cleared his throat to drain away the hoarse voice before retrying,

"He said he'd be in the clinic."

Biting her lower lip, she turned to walk away. Glancing over her shoulder,

"You have much to learn, Adams."

His nervous smile instantly morphed to an amused grin as he watched her through the glass walls, their eyes meeting briefly as Cameron shook her head slightly with a smirk at his misplaced obliviousness.

On the way to the elevator, she unclasped her pager from the belt loop and┘

- - -

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

House didn't even bother with the device, but simply pulled out his cell phone to text Cameron:

stairway

There was no need to be precise because they knew what that meant in terms of exact location. Now the only thing he needed to do was calm himself down before Cameron arrived.

A few minutes later, House opened his eyes when he heard the click of heels making their way up the stairs. The corner of his mouth turned upward slightly when Cameron's hand came into view as she let it slide along the railing, her head turning towards him once she realized she'd reached her destination.

"How's the clinic treating you," she quipped while taking a seat one step below him, allowing her hand to rest on his knee.

"Adams is an idiot."

"You hired him."

"Hopefully he'll make a mistake and Cuddy'll finally realize that she needs to let me do my job, my own way," he replied sternly, his gaze focused on a crack in the floor while eyes were narrowed in consideration.

"We both know that'll never happen," when he didn't respond or even flinch to express his understanding she continued,

"At least give him a chance. Just think about the way you felt about us when we started working here."

"Foreman was a thief, Chase was a daddy's pretty boy, and you were hot."

At his words, she pinched his side to let him know that she was at least TRYING to be serious.

"The only reason I hired Adams was because I didn't feel like interviewing anyone else and it's just one more person I get to show you off to."

"Sweet. Now tell me why you're up here."

"Thinking and no I don't want to talk about it," his attention shifted to her hand that was on his knee, her thumb rubbing back and forth.

He covered her hand with his and glided his own thumb across her knuckles. With a deep breath, he tightened his lips before,

"Two more months."

"A little less than that."

Nodding his head, he tilted it against the wall allowing his eyes to rest while still continuing his movements on Cameron's hand.

"Ok, let's go," Cameron smacked his leg and pushed herself to a standing position.

"Where are we going," he asked confused, reaching for her wrist to keep her there.

"I have work to do. I'm sure you have plenty of work to do, so let's go."

Turning around, she hunched over, her mouth opening only to inhale a silent scream she didn't want to let out, biting down on her lip to hold in any words or sounds that would worry her husband.

"Cameron," House jumped two stairs, ignoring the pain in his thigh as he knelt in front of her, cradling her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him.

"Cam┘Allison, tell me what's wrong," he demanded. His only hope was that his voice didn't convey the emotions he was feeling.

It was too early to have the baby now.

"I think it's time," she whispered painfully.

Pulling out his cell phone, he pressed send which automatically dialed Wilson's number. He ordered him to get help as he tried calming and reassuring Cameron with soft strokes on her arm.

Hey, at least they were in a hospital┘right?


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: I know it's been awhile since my last update, but things have been so hectic recently. My husband and I are packing everything because we're moving back to the states. I just want you all to know that I'm going to finish this, and the wait won't be as long. Thanks to everyone for your comments :D 


	24. Chapter 24

House paced back and forth outside the hospital room, waiting for the doctor to come out. Cameron had been unconscious for the past couple hours.

"Sit down. You're making _me_ nervous," Wilson adjusted his position in the chair he pulled from the lobby.

House paused for a moment, pinching his bottom lip with his fingers before continuing back and forth. The blinds were closed, and he was losing his patience. 

_'What the hell is taking so long?' _

With his cane, he knocked on the glass,

"Hey!"

"House sit down," Wilson gritted through his teeth.

"I'm not sitting down until…" There was a click of the door, and both turned to see the doctor stepping out.

"Hello, Dr. House," he took a deep breath, "The tests proved that everything's fine. Your wife is not in labor yet. For now, she needs to rest," the doctor spoke softly in reassurance.

"Braxton-Hicks," House stated, the doctor nodding to confirm the diagnoses.

"That's it? I've been waiting for hours," House peeked his head in to see Cameron asleep and walked in but not before turning to the doctor,

"Shame on you," then shut the door.

Wilson bounced on his toes nervously,

"He's…just happy," pause, "Thanks." He grabbed his chair and carried it away, leaving the doctor in the middle of the hall confused.

-/-/

When House walked in, he dropped his cane on the metal tray at the end of the hospital bed. Cameron jerked, grunting her disproval while glaring at House as he turned on the TV.

Behind him, he grabbed a chair, dragging it to the side of the bed as the scraping across the floor shrieked and echoed in the room.

_'Are you kidding me?'_ Cameron wanted to shout, but decided it was better left in her head.

"Greg, could you be any louder?"

When he turned his head, he couldn't hold back a frown. The bags under her eyes looked bruised, her complexion was pale, even her eyes expressed dull emotion.

"I'll try and be quiet," he spoke softly.

"Is that even possible for you," she waited for an answer, but it seemed he hadn't heard her, keeping his focus on 'Man vs. Wild.'

"There's a bigger TV in the break room," she suggested.

"I want to sit here," pause, "Quietly."

She rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway.

"You do know that you scared the shit out of me today," he said while turning up the volume, showing that it wasn't something he wanted to discuss, but needed her to know.

"I was scared too," she admitted, noticing his shoulders tense as he held on a bit tighter to the arm of the chair,

"Could you turn it down?" He switched off the show and moved to the bed, nudging her gently before taking his spot beside her. He slid his arm underneath her pillow and brushed back the strands of hair that stuck to her forehead.

His frown was still there, but as long as her eyes were closed, it didn't need to be hidden.

"Have you thought of any names for the kid," he asked as he traced patterns along her stomach.

"A few," she rolled to her side and nestled her cheek against his chest.

"Oookay…like what?" or in other words, 'I was looking for a specific answer, duh.'

"I like Michelle for a girl and Joshua for a boy, but I guess there can be some room for discussion."

"There better be. I dated a girl named Michelle. Complete skank. I'm not going to have the bad vibes of her name influence my daughter," he tilted his head to the side as he considered the other name,

"Joshua is a possibility."

"What names have you thought of," she asked curiously.

He shrugged, "I'm just going to go with it. When the baby pops out, I'll look at the kid and say 'That's a Viggo' or a Bob, whatever the hell kind of name comes to me."

"Viggo? I want a name that people know. You don't name your kid something outrageous unless you know they'll be famous."

"You're jealous."

She was about to speak when the glass door slid open and the doctor walked in, "I'm sorry, but Allison needs her rest. You're going to have to leave for a bit," he smiled apologetically.

"See, doctors spoil all the fun. We're discussing names, you know," he lifted his thigh as he swung it over the side of the bed to grab his cane then reaching out to grab his cane.

"Hurry up and sleep so I can come back in." He shot a glare at the doctor as he limped to the door.

"I love you, Greg." The side of his mouth curved a bit as he nodded and winked before closing the glass door behind him.


End file.
